Festival-goers were not the only ones to enjoy the music at this year’s South by Southwest (SXSW) event in Austin, Texas. Several children at Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas, part of Seton Healthcare Family, an Ascension Ministry, had a chance to hear musical artists thanks to a partnership between Child Life specialists at Dell Children’s and MyMusicRX®.
Performers Cody Simpson, Bobby Bare Jr., Charlotte Brimner, and The Cardboard Songsters presented a concert for patients and their families – masks, IVs, casts and all – in the hospital’s healing garden. In addition to live acoustic music, the event included bubbles, games and craft activities for the children.
“It’s a moment to give back to kids who are here and their families; their parents as well,” said Chris Funk with MyMusicRX®, an organization that works to soothe and rejuvenate hospitalized children and teens, and the medical professionals who care for them, by infusing the hospital environment with the healing power of music.
Parents, like the mother of 2-year-old patient undergoing cancer treatment at Dell Children’s, were grateful for the event, saying, “It’s a distraction from all of the doctors and tough stuff that’s going on.”
