SALT LAKE CITY — A person cannot go through what Paul Cardall has and not be changed — both physically and emotionally.
Cardall
is one of the 1.7 million Americans born with congenital heart disease.
Although he was able to live a fairly normal life — growing up,
becoming a musician, marrying, having a daughter — in recent years, his
disease progressed to the point that he needed a heart transplant.
After
months of waiting, one false alarm when he was actually in the
operating room until it was determined that the available heart would
not be a good match, he finally received his transplant last September.
\"I'm
really feeling great,\" he says now. \"This gives me an endurance I've
never had before. My 'normal' was always different from everyone
else's. So, now I've been able to do things I haven't been able to do.\"
__IMAGE1__Those
things include hiking in the mountains, taking his 4-year-old daughter
skiing, even playing church basketball. \"The renewed energy has been
amazing.\"
He feels a tremendous debt
of gratitude to \"someone who was willing to sign up as an organ donor.\"
But there's also \"an overwhelming weight on my shoulders. Someone's
life was over to give me life. I have a part of that person, the symbol
of all life. And I feel a responsibility to honor that gesture.\"
One
way the Mormon musician will do that is by performing a benefit concert of some of his
most-requested piano works. The concert to \"celebrate life\" will take
place Monday in Abravanel Hall, and will include a silent auction that
will also benefit families affected by congenital heart disease.
Cardall
will perform with a full band and string ensemble. Opening for the
concert will be his friends and singer/songwriters Peter Breinholt, Sam
Payne and Mindy Gledhill.
As Cardall
went through this experience, music has been a sustaining force, he
says. He was in the hospital for seven weeks following the transplant,
and as soon as he was able, \"every night I would go out and play the
piano. I found myself playing 'Gracie's Theme' over and over.\" It was a
song he wrote after some friends lost their infant daughter, and it
brought a lot of peace.
Because of
his history and circumstances, Cardall's surgery took place at Primary
Children's Medical Center. \"I was the only adult staying there. Not
only could I order mac and cheese, I got to interact with a lot of the
kids there. It's a special place. Miracles have happened there, so have
losses, all kinds of things. It was often sobering to be there, but I
could feel that spirit. I'd see the children and what they are going
through, and it gave me the motivation and passion to keep living.\"
Every
time his daughter, Eden, came to visit, \"we tried to make it fun for
her.\" He also had a lot of friends and fellow musicians who came to
play for him, the children and staff. One night Kenneth Cope came. \"I
thought he'd play a few songs, but he had a complete set list. That
kind of support was wonderful.\"
Music
says things that words can't, Cardall says. And, although he has \"found
a lot of joy in writing about my experience, doing blogs, and I've also
written a book that Shadow Mountain will publish,\" he has also turned
to music time and again.
He's
excited about the upcoming concert. \"It's my first time to play at
Abravanel Hall,\" and truth be told, he says, \"for a musician like me,
I'd rather play at Abravanel Hall than Carnegie Hall. I'd much rather
play for my family and my community. They have given me so much love.\"
And
that's a message he wants to get out there. \"I'm not any more special
than anyone else. Lots of people are having a hard time. It helps to
let other people into your life to help. This community wants to help
each other. That has been proved time after time in my experience.\"
The
concert will be a \"time of reflection as well as a celebration,\" he
says. Friend and cellist Steven Sharp Nelson has done most of the
arrangements. \"He can translate and communicate with string players.
Ryan Tilby is in charge of the band. I'm really working with a good
group of guys.\"
The additional musicians will add depth to his music, he says. \"And we'll also show some videos from the past year.\"
He
hopes it will be an evening of joy, but also a night of thoughtfulness.
He is glad to have a chance to call attention to congenital heart
disease and how it impacts families. \"My world has blossomed as I've
connected with other parents of children with the disease.\"
It is rare for someone to live as long as he did without a transplant.
\"But
I think it gives parents a lot of hope to know that I went on a
mission, got married, built a career. These things are possible.\"
He
hopes that by \"bringing a face and story\" to congenital heart disease,
he can increase awareness of it, as well as raise needed funds.
The
silent auction will offer everything from a full scholarship to Salt
Lake Community College, to a day at the Rocky Mountain Raceway, to
quilts and scrapbook materials and much more. He and his wife,
Lynnette, have also created a scholarship program to help a person who
has been affected by congenital heart disease attend Salt Lake
Community College, where they both went to school.
\"There are tens of thousands of people in this community who have been affected by it one way or another,\" he says.
For
him, this is a time to celebrate and give back. It's a time to plan for
a bright future filled with activities — including taking Eden to
Disney World — that weren't possible previously. But it's also a time
blessed by hope and gratitude. \"I truly feel like a new person.\"
If you go...
What: Celebrate Life concert with Paul Cardall
Where: Abravanel Hall
When: Feb. 15, 7:30 p.m.
How much: $14-$20
Also: Silent auction, 6:30 p.m.
Phone: 801-355-2787
Web: www.arttix.org or www.paulcardall.com
E-mail: carma@desnews.com