Waking The Dead

‘PARENTS are forever complaining that teenagers play their music loud enough to wake the dead, but for one family, at least, it’s worked in their favour.

”Got anyting by The Smiths?”

”Rap star Eminem has brought a teenager who ‘died’ five times out of a coma,” reports the Star. ”He sent Claire Derbyshire, 17, a bandana, CDs, signed pictures of himself and a limited edition doll to help her recovery.”

The paper writes that relatives played the works of Marshall Mathers to Claire as she lay in her hospital bed, close to death after catching meningitis. Clearly desperate, they also played the music of other chart-toppers, such as Atomic Kitten, Destiny’s Child, Blue and A1 in a bid to aid the Manchester girl’s recovery.

But it was the rapper’s soothing and life-affirming lyrics that struck a chord deep in her subconscious, and her family ”were amazed when the songs miraculously stirred her back to life”.

”Her eyes lit up and she was overcome, especially when she received the gifts from Eminem,” says her aunt, Julie Widall, who had spent days on the phone persuading the stars to help. ”It was the first time in 17 weeks that she was awake. It was just unbelievable.”

Even though Claire only emerged from her coma to scream at her relatives to turn that crap off, the prognosis is now good and doctors are optimistic about her chances of a full recovery.

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Posted: 14th, August 2002 | In: Tabloids Comment | TrackBack | Permalink