Music to Our Ears
Date: May 23, 2005

This story is a departure from many of the other Outstanding Stories we’ve heard or read. These inspiring acts of kindness usually come at the hands of Floyd employees, men and women who take it upon themselves to go well beyond expectations in caring for a patient or family.

This time it is Floyd Medical Center employees who were the recipients and a volunteer named Sam who was the giver.

At 19, Sam, an accomplished pianist, could easily have found other things to do. Instead, he chose to lend his considerable talent to Floyd’s Arts in Medicine program. He can often be found seated at the baby grand piano just outside the Floyd Medical Center cafeteria, entertaining a small crowd of scattered smiles. I’ve seen listeners hold up their cell phones to share Sam’s gift with a friend or loved one miles away.

One day Sam was conspicuously absent. Weeks passed, and still no Sam. Concerned, I asked his mother, who works in Floyd Medical Center’s Women’s and Children’s Services, about him.

Janeth Romero said her son was very ill. He had been diagnosed with leukemia. While hospitalized at Floyd, a member of Sam’s church brought a portable keyboard to his hospital room, and on his “good” days, he played.

When his condition failed to improve, Sam was transferred to Emory University Hospital for chemotherapy. Once, while back in Rome, the port through which Sam received his medicines became detached. He came to Floyd, and while hospitalized, Sam — his nose and mouth covered by a surgical mask to ward off potentially harmful germs — headed straight for the lobby piano.

A small crowd gathered, and a chorus of tears served as a backdrop for Sam’s concert.

“He just wanted to play again,” his mother said.

“I really missed playing there, it blesses me when I make others feel good,” Sam said.

Sam returned to Emory for a bone marrow transplant . While there, Sam requested — and received — a keyboard, which he used to entertain other patients on his floor, extending Floyd Medical Center’s Arts in Medicine mission to patients at Emory.

Today, Sam lives in an apartment near Emory where doctors want him to remain for 100 days as they monitor his progress following a successful transplant.

We at Floyd are counting the days, waiting for Sam to return to Floyd. There’s a baby grand piano waiting for him to use his gift to inspire others and contribute to Floyd’s healing environment.

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