CLEVELAND — This is the story that brings together a proud dad, his love for his prematurely born son, and his spirit of giving back through music.
In 2016, Tyson Stiles sang to his newborn son Ryver, a preemie who weighed a mere 21 ounces at birth at the NICU unit of University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital.
"Being here in that kind of a situation, it's traumatic and you're always on edge, always up and down," Stiles recalls.
So as he spent day after day in the hospital with his son, he wrote songs. As he puts it, it was a way to release all of his pent-up emotion.
Three years later, Ryver is doing great.
On Friday, Tyson returned to UH/Rainbow to give back to others, sharing the "Healing Harmony" that helped both him and his son.
"It offers a way to normalize the environment," says Seneca Block of UH Connor Integrative Health Network. "A non-pharmaceutical means of stress management, pain management and helps patients cope."
Making beautiful music that made a difference.
"Music therapy is such an important piece of the healing puzzle for sure and I got to see it first hand," Stiles says.