From patient to performer: Musician returns to Sudbury hospital with a song of thanks

A musician from Parry Sound returned to Health Sciences North to debut a song he wrote to honour the nurses who cared for him in hospital.

The last time Travis Middlebrook walked the halls of Health Sciences North in Sudbury, he wasn’t carrying a guitar case.

Middlebrook was a patient, confined to a hospital bed and awaiting surgery for multiple broken bones in his knee following a workplace injury in December.

Post-surgery, he recovered fora a week in the hospital and got to know the staff on the fourth floor quite well.

“I was treated so well here. And they were very good to me,” Middlebrook said.

On Thursday, the Parry Sound musician returned to the hospital to deliver a message of gratitude.

Middlebrook performed his original song, ‘A Kind Soul (The Nurse Song),’ as a town halltribute to the frontline workers who supported him during his stay and to health-care workers everywhere.

Sang it for the nurses

He performed the song for nurses on the fourth floor and for a town hall meeting for staff.

Jamie-Lynn Ellis, an orthopedics and neurosurgery Registered Nurse, cared for Middlebrook while he was in hospital.

“It was really nice when Travis was here, because even if you weren’t in the room with him, you could hear him playing his guitar,” she said.

“And the patients, they enjoyed it.”

Ellis thanked Middlebrook for writing a song for nurses.

“This has never happened to us before, and it’s just so nice,” she said.

“The greatest reward is just seeing him come back and to know that he’s doing well.”

He wrote the song in four days while he was in hospital.

“I was singing early, just the wee hours of the morning,” Middlebrook said.

“Just watching the nurses and really seeing what they do, what they go through in their job. And they really do go through a lot.”

While the song is a gesture of deep gratitude, it doesn’t shy away from the difficulties of a job in health care. The lyrics touch on the long shifts and the ongoing push for better compensation.

Meaningful gesture for the staff

“It was what I was seeing,” he said.

“It’s not like at 10 they get a break and they could just drop what they’re doing. If they’re involved with a patient, they have to continue on. It’s really amazing what they do.”

Jessica Diplock, vice-president of people and culture at HSN, said the song is meaningful.

“When we hear stories, where patients have received great care and they’re grateful and they want to share that it is so meaningful for us to keep us all focused and grounded,” Diplock said.

“It’s why we’re all here, which is the honour and the privilege to serve our patients and our community.”

Middlebrook is currently in the process of recording an album and producing a music video for ‘A Kind Soul.’

He said he hopes he can share the message with health-care workers everywhere.

“Just know that you are appreciated for what you really do,” he said.

“People really do see it.”