Musician gives back to hospital where she was treated

Hephzibah has been supported to train and work as a musician and now freelances for Songbirds

A young musician who had to give up her studies after being diagnosed with ME is using her talent to help children at the same facility where she was treated.

Hephzibah Isherwood, from Manchester, was housebound and in a wheelchair for several years due to the chronic fatigue condition, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis which can cause extreme tiredness.

The 25-year-old pianist used music to design her own programme of recovery to relearn skills like walking, talking, memory and communication.

She received treatment at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital where she now works with Songbirds Music UK, a community-based organisation that delivers music workshops in healthcare settings.

Hephzibah said she was housebound and in a wheelchair for several years due to the chronic fatigue condition

"I think people don't realise how much music impacts us at a physical and biological level," Hephzibah said

"Most of us will acknowledge that it makes us feel better, but particularly when we're working on the ICU, we see oxygen stats respond, we see heart rate respond, sometimes they're able to reduce sedation.

"It has physical and biological effects as well as being a nice thing and a soothing thing."

Formed in 2019, co founder Ros Hawley said Songbirds Music UK was dedicated to improving the experiences of children and young people affected by acute or long-term hospitalisation, health challenges and disability in the north west of England.

Songbirds Music UK is a community-based organisation that delivers music workshops in healthcare settings

Through the Songbirds UK programme, Hephzibah has been supported to train and work as a musician.

She said she felt incredibly privileged to be a part of the team and described her passion as music for health "in community settings with a therapeutic focus".

A lot of her work is on the critical care wards, where music is used to soothe stressful and noisy environments, support sleep and relaxation, and facilitate connection between parents and children.

She said before joining Songbirds, she had not been well enough to work full time.

"Hephzibah's journey is very special," Ms Hawley said.

"It's something that we're very keen to develop in the future and find more young patients who might want to be part of our programme so they can come in and do music as well."

Therapeutic and specialised play service manager Susan Fairclough said the sessions were extremely beneficial to families and staff, as well as patients.

"The experience that they provide is just amazing," she said.

"For us, it's not just the icing on the cake, they are an ingredient within the NHS."