Tim Berry is 27 years old and had just received devastating medical news at Ottawa’s Bruyère Health hospital. Instead of dwelling on everything he would no longer be able to do, he told chaplain Roshene Lawson what he really wanted: to go to a heavy metal show.
Since his health did not allow him to leave, the concert came to him. Lawson called Scott McClinton, owner of the Dominion Tavern bar, who contacted local band The Scepter. Both immediately said yes. A week later, a hospital boardroom was filled with lights, electric guitars, and heads moving to the rhythm of metal, with the musicians using the space between beds as a runway to play in front of each patient.
Berry cried with emotion, and he was not the only one. Even the band members ended up with tears in their eyes. “I never thought I would cry at a metal show, but it happened”, McClinton said. In the end, Berry received a T-shirt and a CD as gifts, along with the certainty that someone had listened to what truly mattered to him.
@ctvnewsottawa A private heavy metal hospital concert was arranged at Bruyère Health for 27-year-old patient Tim Berry after staff and local partners organized a full band performance. CTV's Peter Szperling reports how power metal band The Scepter brought their full stage set to the hospital board room. Does this special concert story bring a smile to your face? #HeavyMetal #BruyereHealth #CTVNewsOttawa
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