FLORENCE + THE MACHINE VISITS AUSTIN TEEN IN HOSPICE CARE

"Today we were privileged to witness the clear joy of a room full of teenagers singing with Florence Welch and guitarist Rob Ackroyd from Florence and The Machine who came to Hospice Austin's Christopher House to give a private concert to a teen who missed her concert last night due to her illness. The room was full; full of joy and warmth and love and life and singing. Thank you, Florence!" • #florenceandthemachine #florencewelch #florence #fatm #robertackroyd @florence @9billionnamesofgod

A photo posted by @flomwelch on May 21, 2016 at 2:57pm PDT

Wow. This is a great story and shows the power of music to lift hearts and spirits. Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine, with the help of the staff at Hospice Austin, made a visit to the Hospice House to visit a 15 year-old teen who was unable to attend her concert at Austin360 Amphitheater the night before due to her illness.  The next day Welch, along with her guitarist Robert Ackroyd  surprised the teen with an acoustic performance in front of close friends and family singing "Dog Days Are Over" and "Shake It Out."

As written on the Austin Hospice Facebook page: 

"We have a patient who held long cherished tickets to see Florence and The Machine last night with her BFF. All week through set back after set back she asked if she would be able to go. We tried to entertain the idea and it felt so scary and overwhelming for the medical staff and her mother that finally I said no, and my heart broke again," said Hospice Austin's Christopher House Nurse Practitioner Christie Kramer. 

"And then, through a remarkable team effort on the part of Christopher House and Hospice Austin Staff, we were able to make contact with Florence. My patient's mom was so nervous- will she really come? Is she here yet? She kept popping out of the room and checking. And Florence came. And her mom burst into tears of joy at the sight of her and Florence gave her a big hug. Florence walked around the corner to the patient's room -- stuffed to the gills with teen friends -- and there were shrieks and squeals and so much joyous music and singing and tears and tears and tears of grief and joy and hope and love and utter devastation and somehow simple kindness made everything better. Many thanks to my wonderful colleagues who made this happen and to Florence + The Machine for giving an amazing gift of kindness." 

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