Musicians Florence and the Machine performed at the Austin 360 Amphitheater Thursday night, but it was another Austin performance that will have you reaching for tissues.
The pop band made the impromptu visit to Hospice Austin’s Christopher House in the Texas city of Austin a day after their concert on Friday, much to the delight of the patients, workers and visitors.
In the video, band members Florence Welch and Robert Ackroyd perform an acoustic rendition of the group’s hit songs Dog Days Are Over and Shake it Out to Karinya Chen.
Chen had a ticket to see the band when they played an Austin concert back in May, but she was too ill to attend. Hospice Austin organized the concert at Christopher House, where Chen was being treated. The four duets she sang with the lead singer went viral, with 1.5 million hits on YouTube.
Many online commentators have also reacted to the video, which has gathered over 300,000 views since it was posted yesterday.
The hospice wrote online: “Thank you, Florence, for your loving kindness, and for making our patient’s day.”
London-based Florence and the Machine are on a world tour promoting their album How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful.
We’ll let the video take it from here:
Five days before her death on Oct. 1, Karinya granted an interview to KXAN. Her body was frail, described by her nurses as “skin and bones,” yet when asked how she was feeling that day, she called it an “on day” and said she felt “100 percent.”
“Honestly, I think the biggest thing is to not worry and fear,” Karinya said.
“I tear up a little bit when I say that because it’s hard fighting and it’s a difficult thing every single day and just to get past every single day but you just have to remember that there’s always tomorrow and if you take it one day at a time and just tell yourself don’t worry and don’t take things for granted and tell yourself that you are loved and you are blessed then it makes it a lot easier to fight.”
Listening to her goals, a person might think she was like most other 15 year old girls.
“I want to complete my education, I want to graduate and go to college. This is for myself, I’m just saying what I would like to happen in the future for me,” she said.
But she also knew there was no more treatment available for her. And at her very young age, along with her parents, she had to make a difficult decision.
“We’ve decided to just let God — give it to God. And just let Him take care of me,” Karinya explained through tears. “No matter what, if you just put your trust and your faith in Him, all will be well. And that’s my main message to everyone.”
Karinya was in the care of Hospice Austin for the last nine months of her life, twice admitted to Christopher House, but cared for at her home the remainder of the time.
“Hospice Austin. Oh my goodness, I cannot begin to describe what they’ve done for me,” Karinya said. “Their around the clock care and their nurses are amazing. You cannot find better nurses at any other hospital, I think. They’re just so kind and caring and genuinely care about you and you feel that love that they radiate with every single thing they do for you. I know it’s their job, but just the extent to which they reach their care is really astounding and I want to thank them.”
Karinya Chen is survived by her parents and her 9-year-old brother, along with many other family members and friends from the Kirby Hall School.
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