Old man in nursing home lights up while hearing music from his era
Music has the power to heal and can bring us out of our deepest, darkest moments.
Take a look at one man's story of how his life changed after music was introduced into his daily routine.
In the clip, we learn that Henry has been living at the Cobble Hill Health Center for the past 10 years. Without music, he was barely responsive, kept his head down on the front panel of his wheelchair and barely spoke to anyone. That is, until Yvonne Russell, a recreation therapist, gave him the gift of music and brought him back to life.
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His daughter says that Henry had been having seizures and her mother couldn't take care of him anymore, so he was sent to live at Cobble Hill. She says that the experience significantly affected her because before this, "He was always fun-loving, singing, [and] on every occasion he would come out with a song no matter where he was."
She remembers her father walking her and her brother down the street and stopping to perform "Singing In The Rain" while swinging around poles and recalls that her father was "always into music" and "loved singing and dancing."
"We first see Henry inert, maybe depressed, unresponsive and almost un-alive," neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks says in the clip. "Then he is given an iPod, containing [what] we know is his favourite music, and [he] immediately lights up. His face assumes expression, his eyes open wide, he starts to sing, rock, move his arms and he's being animated by the music."
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When Henry sings Bing Crosby's "I'll Be Home for Christmas" in the video, the vibrato in his voice and the emotion behind his delivery makes your heart ache with joy as this older gentleman comes alive while performing one of his favourite tunes.
The clip is part of a new documentary called "Alive Inside" that focuses on investigating "the power music has to awaken deeply locked memories" by following a social worker who decides to introduce iPods into a nursing home.
On the film's website, the creators say that with this film their hope is to, "encourage widespread adoption of personalized music programs in nursing homes and outpatient therapy in homes."
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