All Good News

'This Saved My Sanity': Medical Assistant Surprises Patient With Guitar

November 12, 2020

A Connecticut man in the hospital had his spirits lifted when a medical assistant surprised him with a guitar.

Sammy Myers and Curtis Exum / Credit: UCONN Today

62-year-old Curtis Exum was admitted to the Oncology Unit at UConn John Dempsey Hospital and his diagnosis was not good.

"I was really low and my sanity was in a bad place," Exum told Uconn Today.

Sammy Myers, a medical assistant at the hospital, knew Exum was feeling low and started a conversation to lift his spirit, learning that Exum was a guitar player and missed being home and playing his guitars.

Myers remembered an old guitar his daughter had at home that was no longer being used and brought it as well as an amplifier for Exum the next day.

It was the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me," Exum said through tears.

"This saved my sanity. It was just so nice. I've had to fight for everything I had my whole life and to have a stranger give me such a gift, it saved my sanity."

Exum was due to leave the hospital after a ten-day stay, Myers came back to hear him play the guitar he gifted him. There was not a dry eye in the room as Exum shared how much the gift meant to him.

"I gave it from the heart, and I'm so glad he enjoys it, he deserves it," said Myers. "Now he has something to look forward to when he goes home."