Shortly after being made aware of a fan that was hospitalized this week after being diagnosed with leukemia, Seattle artist Macklemore took time to visit the devotee while in Vermont for a performance at Saint Michael’s College earlier this week.
Macklemore was made aware of the fan, simply known as Sam, thanks to a lone email that was brought to his attention. XXLMag.com reports that on top of visiting Sam in the hospital, the “Thrift Shop” rapper also paid tribute to the young man during a moment of silence at his Vermont show.
Following his visit with Sam, Macklemore went on to post a letter on his Website, sharing the story of Sam and how he was made aware of Sam and his newly-diagnosed illness.
The full letter is re-published below along with a picture of Macklemore and Sam and video of the emcee’s call for a moment of silence.
“I went to visit a college student named Sam in the hospital today. Normally, I wouldn’t publicly address the experience, but one of Sam’s friends posted the pic on Reddit.com and it gained attention and an outpouring of support for Sam and his family. Several media outlets have hit me up asking why I picked Sam and what prompted the visit. Here’s my answer.
We get a lot of emails from people. Whether it’s benefit shows or individual requests, there’s a ton of people that reach out. Most of the emails that we receive are from people or causes that we would love to volunteer our time and get involved with, but unfortunately our schedule is so crazy this year we barely have a spare hour to spend. But yesterday when my girl told me about Sam’s story and that we would have some free time on Thursday, it was a no-brainer to visit him in the hospital.
The email we received was from one of Sam’s friends who explained the situation. Sam is in his junior year in college, and up until last Friday his life was going great. He hadn’t been feeling well the last month, and went to the doctor to get some blood tests late last week. The doctors got the results, sat him down, told him he had leukemia and would immediately need to start chemotherapy in order to hopefully beat the disease. Just like that.
Sam’s story resonated with me. I can’t imagine being a healthy kid, at the end of my junior year in college, and getting diagnosed with leukemia. It’s one of those stories that reminds you how fragile life is, gives you a reality check on your own issues, and make you appreciate the health of you and your loved ones more than ever.
I learned that Sam is a big fan and that he was super bummed to miss the opportunity to go with his brother to our show. His friends that emailed us picked us up from the venue and we drove to the hospital to visit.
I’ve done these types of hospital visits before, and sometimes they can be a little awkward. What do you say to someone in Sam’s position? This is a complete stranger, who is going through a life-altering trauma, abruptly disconnected to the world they once knew. No amount of “you’ll get through this” pep talk seems substantial enough. You want to say something that might leave a lasting impression but the words aren’t there.
But when I first shook Sam’s hand I could tell he was connected. He’s the type of kid that immediately puts the room at ease. He makes eye contact and speaks from his heart, not sugarcoating what he’s going through, but not feeling sorry for himself either. He’s still adjusting to the news of his cancer and the reality of his new life. This tiny hospital room will be his home on and off for the next 2 years. An overflow of saturated shiny balloons occupies the corner, and the gigantic “Get Well Sam” card pinned to a wall gives the sterile room some vibrancy. A stack of DVDs lives just outside his arm’s reach, but he doesn’t have the energy to figure out how to get the DVD player working. We all talk. You listen. You try and put yourself in his position, imagine if you got that news about yourself or a loved one.
These types of experiences are important for me. They bring me back to a place of gratitude and give life a tangible value, beyond the instant gratification that my job provides. Being a rapper is one of the most narcissistic careers in the world. You are surrounded by yourself: interviews, Twitter, Facebook, Billboard charts, YouTube plays, shows, the crowds, awards etc. Fame suffocates the spirit and consumes you if you let it. You wake up thinking about you, and go to bed thinking about you. That’s not a good place to be.
With over 200 shows booked for the year, I barely get to see my family and spend time with the people that remind me where I come from and what’s really important. Getting outside of myself, even for an hour, and doing something like meeting Sam this afternoon gave me a small opportunity to be of service to someone else. I am able to realize that my problems are NOTHING compared to what him and his family are going through. And hopefully the visit made his day a little better and got him through another 24. That’s what matters in the end.
In all honesty, it’s the Sams of the world and the situations they go through that give us perspective on our own lives. Unfortunately, so often it takes a tragedy to wake us up and appreciate those closest to us. When we are faced with death, we immediately put a new found value on the life we’ve been given. I’m grateful for the opportunity to meet Sam and his parents today. Made me feel like a real person. Beyond the music and the accolades, at the core that is what I want out of this life. To feel. And Sam reminded me of that.
Much love to him, his family and his friends.”
RELATED: Macklemore Responds To “Sellout” Comments Made In Regards To His NBA All-Star Game Commercial
i just wanna say FUCK ALL YOU TROLLS that are inevitably going to come in here posting about lil wayne and YMCMB
You left out Jarule!
and I just wanna add, much respect to Macklemore for remaining humble thru his meteoric rise to success.
You mean his decade long drought that finally sprang water.
I wish Ja Rule would have visited me instead. I prefer platinum recording artists.
macklemore is on his way to a platinum selling album
thrift shop is 5X plat, probably close to 6X now
and the new single just went platinum.
meanwhile ja rule’s last album sold just over 6000 to date
No according to Ja Rule’s biggest fan (Ja Rule himself), its sold 10 million.
THAT IS GREAT TO HEAR
MY BOY WEEZY GAVE A WHEEL CHAIR TO A FAN WHO NEEDED IT MY BOY WEEZY HELPED ALL THE VICTIMS OF HURRICANE KATRINA AND GAVE BACK TO THE COMMUNITY. MY BOY WEEZY DESERVES RESPECT OVER THESE WHITE CLOWNS
COSIGN EVERYTHING YOU SAID!! ALSO, MOST OF YOU DONT KNOW THIS BECAUSE WAYNE PREFERS TO KEEP HIS CHARITY WORK PRIVATE BUT WHEN I VOLUNTEERED TO HELP THE VICTIMS OF THE BOSTON BOMBINGS, WAYNE WAS THERE, CHATTING WITH THEM AND EVEN PLACED A DONATION ON THEIR BEHALF!! I THANKED HIM FOR VISITING BOSTON!! YOU DONT SEE CHRIS BROWN OR KENDRICK DOING IT!! NOT EVEN EMINEM OR JAY Z!
Everything both of you say is a bunch of bullshit lies.
weezy aint help out after katrina until months later and he gave them like 200k when he was worth like 50 or 60 million
WAYNE WANTED TO GIVE KATRINA VICTIMS MORE BUT THE VICTIMS TALKED HIM OUT OF IT!!
Keep lying.
Great story. Utmost respect.
Respect. Scarface needs to read this story, maybe it will humble him.
this has nothing to do with scarface. he was not talking about white rappers in that interview at all. he was speaking about old white guys in suits who runs the labels and the industry
doesn’t change the fact that he could take something away from it, he obviously has a lot of anger in his heart
You have the anger asher1985 and you don’t even realize it.
The only thing that will humble Scarface is when Willie D wins the lottery and Scar has to beg for money.
Ja Rule has sold something like 20 million albums, and also had 2 platinum singles. Macklemore could only hope to reach his level of success, and considering that he’s been around for over a decade, that probably won’t happen.
ja rule has no career left
The Ja Rule comments on here never get old lmao
Agreed, Macklemore is nothing compared to Ja Rule – I heard PIL2 hit 11x plat now!
Macklemore charged my kid $150.00 for an autograph. Damn snake! I knew we should have called Rick Ross instead. At least we could have gotten some free Reeboks and a Philly Cheesesteak out of it.
Rick Ross aint giving out no Reeboks. and that fat nigga definitely aint giving away no fucking free food.
Good joke.
Ja Rule’s career is over when he decides its over.
loooooooooooool yeah true maan fuck jaaah lol wack ass nigga
Macklemore came to the hospital room drunk. Damn snake!
fuck this 2013 vanilla ice.
HA
Macklemore’s nothing like Vanilla Ice.
i fuckin hate that wack azz thrift shop song but i gotta give it up for something like this.
Riff Raff is the 2013 Vanilla Ice.
without the hit record or millions of album sales
where is your favorite black rapper at? will they visit their fans?
They’ve been doing that, teaching classes, buying books, opening foundations, etc. Try again bigot.
Rick Ross visited a fan at In and Out Burger. Even paid for his meal. Now what?
true but ross ate his fries
Of course Ross ate his fries. He was hungrier than a mother.