A soothing song is something that defies all boundaries of language or culture.
It doesn’t matter who you are. Even when you don’t understand the lyrics, a soft melody always puts the mind at ease. That’s what Lindon Beckford, a patient transporter at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, discovered pretty much by accident. He shared his story in a heartwarming video on the YouTube channel STAT:
“I was always singing at work. I was always singing as a child growing up, so it was just a natural thing. It was more for a comforting thing…” said Beckford.
Singing was just a natural part of who he was. If he had a song stuck in his head, he wouldn’t think twice about it. Beckford would just go ahead and start softly singing the lyrics out loud as a form of comforting himself.
What he never expected was that the patients he was transporting around the hospital felt comforted by his singing as well.
“… so I did that just to comfort myself, but all of a sudden I get to realize people was listening to me,” said Beckford.
That fact that people were listening to him took him by surprise.
However, once he realized that people really appreciated the relaxing tunes he was singing, he decided to make it a regular part of his routine.
Beckford has been working in the same hospital as a patient transporter for 31 years now, and over the course of his time there, he has perfected all sorts of techniques for calming patient’s worries. It has become somewhat of an art form for him.
“Depending on the conversation that I hear… is the patient in pain? What song can I sing to relieve them,” explained Beckford.
“At the end when I get them to their procedure or back to their room they will tell me, ‘you know, you make this trip from here to there so much easier because of your singing’.”
It is obvious that Beckford cares a lot for the patients he is transporting.
While some staff might say a comforting word or two to patients, Beckford expresses his compassion instead using the power of music.
It is so amazing that he is able to share these beautiful yet simple moments with the patients, comforting them in their times of need.
Beckford’s singing is a small gesture, but you can tell by watching the reactions of the individuals in the video that he is really making a difference in people’s lives.
“I remember the first time a patient journeyed with me, I was taking her to the cath lab, and she started doing harmonies for what I was singing, I’m like ‘oh’, it was so amazing, I’m like ‘wow’, and ever since then that happened a few times,” Beckford recalled.
Beckford’s job is a simple, but important one. For over three decades now, he has been serenading the patients at Beth Israel Deaconess and transporting them from one end of the hospital to the other.
Although singing is not part of his job description, it’s an act that everyone certainly appreciates.
No one likes having to go to the hospital. However, all the patients who have passed through the medical facility in Beckford’s care will always remember fondly the song’s he sang to them. His singing, while a small act of kindness, is one that over the years has helped to brighten thousands of individuals’ days.
Check out the video of the “The Singing Transporter” below to see Beckford in action singing some of his beautiful soothing songs.
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