ABC/Paula LoboA California nurse surprised a young patient recently with the “Perfect” gift: a guitar signed by Ed Sheeran.
Nurse Colin James won the guitar in a toy drive drawing and immediately decided he wanted to pass it along to 15-year-old Kayano Lizardo-Bristow, an Ed Sheeran fan awaiting a kidney transplant at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford.
Kayano had been participating in music therapy while undergoing dialysis at the hospital and had been practicing Ed’s ballad, “Perfect,” on a borrowed guitar.
“When [music therapist] Rebekah told me about Kayano’s passion for music and how it helps him cope with being in the hospital, I knew I had to give this guitar to him,” Colin said. “He is going through a difficult time in his life and my hope is that it brings him a little joy.”
Kayano, who had been wanting to get a guitar for a long time, described the moment Colin presented him with his very own instrument.
“I was sitting in dialysis with Mom, Dad and Rebekah, playing the [Ed Sheeran] song ‘Thinking Out Loud,'” Kayano said. “Rebekah said, ‘I think we need a new guitar for this part.’ Then a few people walked in, Colin was carrying a guitar case. I was in shock, I was about to have a heart attack!”
He added, “I had a very emotional reaction. Everyone was tearing up. I played a song on the new guitar — I finished while I was crying.”
The instrument is inscribed with the words “Play! Don’t display! Ed Sheeran.”
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