VIDEO: Cancer patients gather in online choir to offer support and share their passion for music

Laughing over a cup of tea, Laura Boyd and Shona Brown have the easy companionship of old friends so it’s hard to believe this is the first time the new mums have met in person.

The pair were brought together during those first uncertain days of the pandemic thanks to a shared love of singing and their experience of living with cancer.

In April, STV presenter Laura, who was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukaemia 11 years ago, had the idea of starting up a cancer choir to help see her through the precariousness of lockdown.

The 39-year-old, from Glasgow, said: “I used to sing with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra Chorus when I was younger and I just love singing, so I had this idea about doing a choir – something to try to help people through lockdown, but also to keep me going.”

© Andrew Cawley

Laura put out a message through her Twitter account looking for singers and was inundated with people keen to sign up, including Shona, who was being treated for breast cancer and runs choirs across Glasgow with her company Soundroutes Singers.

Laura, who is STV’s entertainment reporter and has interviewed big-name stars including George Clooney and Chris Pine, explained: “Loads of people got back saying they would be up for it, but there was one problem. I had never led a choir before so finding Shona was like finding the missing piece of the jigsaw.”

The pair swapped numbers and soon began emailing, texting and calling each other to get the project under way.

Before long they had a 30-strong choir, which they aptly named Beat It. Each member of the team has been affected by cancer, whether having been diagnosed themselves, or cared for or lost a relative to the disease. As the world was in the midst of lockdown, and many of the choir members were in the “at risk” category, the only way to rehearse safely was online. Every week they would log into a video call and sing their harmonies from their homes, often using bathrooms for the preferable acoustics.

“There is no technology to form a choir online from people’s homes at the moment,” said Shona. “So I had to lead the choir with everyone’s microphones on mute. They could only hear me and themselves.

“Nobody had any idea how anyone else sounded – and I couldn’t hear them singing either so it really was an experiment.”

This week, the group will hear how they sound together for the first time when they release a video of their debut recording Don’t Give Up On Me. The music video was edited together from footage recorded during their online recording sessions.

Shona, 36, said: “To be honest, we didn’t know how long lockdown was going to last and assumed we would all be able to meet up in person by now. But it has worked out well. And the recording sounds amazing. There is a real bond between all of the singers and I think it shows. We’re in perfect harmony.”

But the strongest bond, without a doubt, is between Shona and Laura, the women who co-ordinated it all. They have forged an unshakable friendship which has proven to be a pillar of strength not just for each other but others touched by cancer around the country.

Laura said: “Shona and I have talked on the phone, emailed, texted…but never met until now. We talk about cancer and treatment and stuff. We may have only met a few months ago, but I do feel like I’ve known her all my life.

“I feel good most of the time and try to get on and live a normal life but it’s lovely to be able to talk to someone who understands what you are going through.” The TV personality said finding out she had cancer while in her 20s was “like being hit by a lightning bolt”.

“In the space of a few hours, my life changed completely,” she said. “I had flu-like symptoms and felt tired. My GP thought I had IBS or Crohn’s. But one day I kept fainting every time I stood up. When I went back to the surgery, they said, ‘you have cancer’.

“I found when I was first diagnosed everyone would say ‘you’re going to be OK’. I understood that. I’m a very positive person and that’s the kind of thing I would say but sometimes you just need someone who gets it.”

Shona, who is currently awaiting preventative double mastectomy surgery, said: “People think once you are over the bulk of your cancer treatment, that it’s all over but the truth is it’s a trauma that haunts you for the rest of your life.

“You find yourself putting a brave face on it, for your child, and for everyone else but even years on, it’s still hard.”

She said the relaxed support of Laura and the other choir members had been invaluable as they built firm friendships around their shared experiences of cancer.

Shona said: “Meeting Laura has been a blessing. It’s so therapeutic being around someone who just understands.

“We’ve both had different experiences, but the way cancer turns your life on its head is something you can only really ‘get’ when you’ve lived through it – and she has. Lockdown has been hard, but there have been some positives. I’ve been able to make up for lost time with my daughter Mara – and we’ve done something to help others on their cancer journey feel a little less on their own because it can be an isolating process.

“I have also made a new friend in Laura which is an added bonus. It’s so nice to meet up in person. I think the next time we need to make sure we have a glass of wine in hand, and we can put the world to rights.

“And plan for the next choir block. We’re going to continue and hopefully get a nice new song under wraps in time for Christmas!”

Shona’s breast cancer diagnosis came when Mara, now three, was just eight months old.

After surgery to remove the lump, Shona thought she was over the worst. But there were complications in the form of sepsis and a blood clot in her heart. She was given a 50% chance of survival.

However, the hardest part, she says, was being too ill to look after her baby and missing out on time to bond.

“I was a new mum dealing with all the complications that brings, like juggling work with sleepless nights and the demands of the baby and doctors were telling me I had cancer. I just kept saying, ‘I’m a mum. This shouldn’t be happening to me’.”

Laura faced a six-month blur of tests and scans and eventually was placed on chemotherapy tablets to keep the cancer at bay which she still takes today.

The cancer almost robbed her of her chance to be a mum.

“I always wanted to have children, but had to come off my medication to try to conceive. Unfortunately the cancer increased and doctors said it would be too dangerous for me to carry a baby.”

Laura and husband Steven Ford were devastated but, happily, not for long.

Realising the couple’s desire to be parents Steven’s sister Jayne stepped in and offered to be a surrogate, using the couple’s embryos.

Laura and Steven are now proud parents to nine-month-old Penelope. “Jayne really gave us the best gift, we’ll forever be indebted to her,” said Laura.

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Shona’s story

© Andrew Cawley

Shona’s breast cancer diagnosis came when Mara, now three, was just eight months old.

After surgery to remove the lump, Shona thought she was over the worst. But there were complications in the form of sepsis and a blood clot in her heart. She was given a 50% chance of survival.

However, the hardest part, she says, was being too ill to look after her baby and missing out on time to bond.

“I was a new mum dealing with all the complications that brings, like juggling work with sleepless nights and the demands of the baby and doctors were telling me I had cancer. I just kept saying, ‘I’m a mum. This shouldn’t be happening to me’.”

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Laura’s story

© Andrew Cawley

Laura faced a six-month blur of tests and scans and eventually was placed on chemotherapy tablets to keep the cancer at bay which she still takes today.

The cancer almost robbed her of her chance to be a mum.

“I always wanted to have children, but had to come off my medication to try to conceive. Unfortunately the cancer increased and doctors said it would be too dangerous for me to carry a baby.”

Laura and husband Steven Ford were devastated but, happily, not for long.

Realising the couple’s desire to be parents Steven’s sister Jayne stepped in and offered to be a surrogate, using the couple’s embryos.

Laura and Steven are now proud parents to nine-month-old Penelope. “Jayne really gave us the best gift, we’ll forever be indebted to her,” said Laura.

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Many voices become one in digital gathering

© SYSTEM

Recording a choir spread the length and breadth of the country was no easy task – but the voices behind Beat It rose to the challenge.

Not able to hear each other, each member of the choir learned and recorded their own part, then sent their video onto Laura, who got some of her colleagues at STV to edit them together.

“It was a big ask,” Shona said. “Not everyone is a confident singer. But everyone really gave it their all and we are so proud. Many even recorded their videos in the bathroom, where the acoustics can be a bit better.

“And the overall sound is amazing. If you close your eyes, it sounds like a real choir all in one room!”

Laura added: “Shona couldn’t have picked a more perfect song. It’s uplifting and the lyrics are very apt. They really do strike a chord for everyone who has had a cancer experience. Everyone who has seen the video so far has cried.

“It’s been emotional but I think we have all found a little bit of extra support we didn’t know was out there – and it turns out we sound pretty fantastic too!”