AUSTIN -- After a video of the singer and guitarist of Florence and the Machine singing with a 15-year-old Hospice Austin patient Friday went viral, KVUE's Jenni Lee spoke with the hospice staff about the experience.
The private 45-minute performance came together at the last minute, staffers said. The patient, Karinya, initially had plans to see Florence and the Machine in concert at the Austin 360 Amphitheater Thursday night, but her health declined.
Every day, she asked staff at the Hospice Austin the same question.
"Do you think I'll be able to go? Do you think I'll be able to go?" repeated Melinda Marble, one of the staffers who was in the room for the performance.
It didn't look good for the 15-year-old battling cancer. That's when staffers reached out to the musician, who was happy to come.
The teen sang along with the musicians as the room of people recorded with the cell phones. At least two of the videos are making the round on the internet. The videos show Karinya's grinning ear to ear.
Watch one of those videos below:
"All of us were crying. All the staff were crying," said Marble. "They brought our patient some tee shirts, a hoodie and a bag, a poster. Our patient wanted Florence to sign her arm with permanent marker so it wouldn't come off and so Florence did," said Marble.
At one point during the 45 minute concert, Karinya's friends sang back up. The singer loved it.
The joy from the musician's visit still lingered in the hallways of Hospice Austin -- a place that now has a few more Florence and The Machine super fans.
Hospice Austin treats 90 percent of their patients in homes. Those who end up at Christopher's House in East Austin have symptoms that need stabilizing.
