Musician undergoing chemotherapy sings Christmas carol with nurse in heartwarming video

Erin Donnelly
·Yahoo Life Senior Editor
Updated
Musician Penn Pennington sang carols with nurse Alex Collazo in video captured by his daughter. (Photo: Courtesy of Brandi Leath)
Musician Penn Pennington sang with nurse Alex Collazo in video captured by his daughter. (Photo: Courtesy of Brandi Leath)

An oncology nurse in Tennessee found the perfect way to brighten her 67-year-old cancer patient’s day: a jam session featuring a classic Christmas carol.

As the Tennessean reports, Alex Collazo, a registered nurse at Nashville’s Sarah Cannon Cancer Center, bonded with patient Penn Pennington, who is undergoing chemotherapy, over their love of music. While Collazo plays guitar and has a passion for singing, Pennington is a longtime local guitar player who’s frequented Nashville country bars and even the Grand Ole Opry.

Last Sunday, Collazo brought in a guitar to help cheer up Pennington — “I could tell he was kind of down," she said to the newspaper — telling him, “All right my friend, it’s time to jam.”

In footage filmed by Brandi Leath, Pennington’s daughter, the pair perform a duet to “O Holy Night,” Collazo hitting the high notes as her patients strums and sings along from his hospital bed. The video is now going viral, with commenters praising the “beautiful” performance and gushing over Collazo’s special care.

“Any time you go in the hospital for cancer, it's automatically a downer,” Pennington, who also sang “Can’t Help Falling in Love” with his nurse, told the Tennessean. “This was an escape, for a while. It was a good thing.”

"He's going through something so rough and so terrifying, and this was something I could do for just a moment in time to help him forget he was in the hospital and what was going on," Collazzo added. "This is what we do on our floor. We put compassion into everything."

The Christmas carol hasn’t been Pennington’s only musical moment during his treatment. Leath also shared videos of him jamming with country singer Tom Buller and others.

The musician also has a GoFundMe fundraiser set up on his behalf.

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