A music teacher from south-east England helped a young student overcome medical conditions and personal obstacles to learn to sing in this truly heartwarming story filmed February 18.

Amelia Rosie Hamilton has Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, which affects her physical health, but after meeting Professor Grenville Hancox of Canterbury Christ Church Music in 2012 she learned to channel her energies to sing. The two have since remained in contact since her graduation and still perform many musical activities together.

When they met up again in this video, while Hamilton was being treated at a hospital in Royal Tunbridge Wells in February 2019, she could only speak in halting words. However, after Hancox produced a guitar and started playing, Hamilton was able to sing with a clear and steady voice.

Hamilton commented: "Music especially singing and playing the piano offered me an escape route which was magnified when I met Prof Grenville Hancox, who encouraged me to try and rid some of the demons that had plagued my life. I could not speak but i could sing!

I have been teaching music, applying music, performing music all my life aware from an early age that music can change the world.
When as professor of music at Canterbury Christ Church Music I met Amelia as a student and was aware both of her great musicality but also that she faced many challenges in her life. She has a condition,Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, which continues to impact on many aspects of her life and suffered abuse both mental and physical by her father. Never deterred by these extraordinary circumstances she used music as a means to combat the mental and physical pain of her condition.
We have not only kept in touch since her graduation but Amelia has continued to take part in many music activities which are part of the charity Canterbury Cantatas Trust that i established in 2012, where Caring through Singing underpins everything we do . Here is little of Amelia’s (Rosie’s) story and the video we made when she was having difficulty speaking in February 2019.
Amelia Rosie Hamilton writes:
My story is a long one centered around a desire to realise a world of love and caring for others ,much of which was missing from my childhood.
Music especially singing and playing the piano offered me an escape route which was magnified when I met Prof Grenville Hancox who encouraged me to try and rid some of the demons that had plagued my life by immersing myself in musical activities based on 'Caring through Singing'.As you will have seen from the video he made when he came to visit me in hospital, this is exactly what happened! I could no speak but i could sing!