New music therapy program for kids fighting cancer at Nemours

You wouldn’t know it from her smile, but 6-year-old Addison Johnson was at Nemours Children’s Specialty Care in Jacksonville on Thursday for chemotherapy.

“Wow, nice job!” music therapist Steven Amburn told Addison as she laughed — and hit a drum with a mallet.

This month, Amburn started coming to Nemours twice a week thanks to a new grant that launched the Kent Lindsey Music Therapy Program.

Kent Lindsey, known as “Safari Sam” when he hosted FOX30's “Kids Club” in the 1980s and 1990s, lost his battle with cancer last year.

“Just this morning I was walking down the hall and they were bringing someone in to check in and he says, ‘Hey Mom, look, a guitar!’ You don’t really see that when you see a nurse with a needle,” Amburn said.

He said music therapy can do much more than distract kids from their cancer treatment.

“Kids don’t always have the right words for things,” Amburn said. “But they can know that this song is how I feel.”

“You can get them to talk about what it’s like in treatment. You can get them to talk about what it was like when they didn’t get to see their friend at school or when they missed their favorite class.”

If you want to donate to help keep the program going, click here.

Cox Media Group