Singer Mark O’Shea talks with patient Sarah Marcum, 7, and her grandmother, Sharon Beeler, about how well he recovered from the surgery he had as a child for a congenital heart defect. Sarah Marcum underwent open-heart surgery the next day. (photo by Anne Rayner)
Patients the stars in country artist’s new music video
Country music singer-songwriter Mark O'Shea's new music video, “Look at You Now,” features patients, families and staff members from the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.
The video debuted at the hospital with a party and live performance on Oct. 30.
O'Shea had surgery as an infant in his native Australia to repair a congenital heart defect called tetralogy of Fallot. Now in his 20’s, O'Shea is a musical success in Australia and moved to Nashville two years ago to launch a country music career here. O'Shea said the video was a natural fit for his song “Look at You Now.”
“I was delighted with the opportunity to work with the Pediatric Heart Institute,” O'Shea said. “They are truly leading the way in caring for kids with heart problems. It just seemed to be the perfect fit for me and a great way to hopefully ease the minds of a few parents and kids out there who are going through the same thing I did.”
In the video, a number of children who had heart surgeries and non-surgical repair of heart defects show photos from the time of their procedures, then the patients toss the photos aside to show how well they have recovered. You can see the video on the Children's Hospital's pediatric heart institute Web page at www.vanderbiltchildrens.com/heart.
The Marcum family, from Knoxville, Tenn., happened to be at Children's Hospital preparing for their 7-year-old daughter Sarah's open-heart surgery when they saw O'Shea performing his song and screening the video.
“It was almost like safety in numbers,” said Emily Marcum, Sarah’s mother. “There were so many people in the room and in the video who had been through it already, it was reassuring.”
After the screening, Sarah (who is currently recovering from her successful surgery) got to meet and talk with O'Shea.
O'Shea also assisted in the production of a second video called ”The Care Behind the Kids.”
The video, which can also be seen at www.vanderbiltchildrens.com/heart, showcases faculty and staff at the Pediatric Heart Institute with O'Shea serving as the video's host.