How Eminem showed me the true meaning of life

by **asid12345678** » Nov 15th, '10, 20:18

This past week, I witnessed an act of compassion from, hands down, one of the most unlikely sources.

I’ll give you a hint. He is a famous rapper whose lyrics include the following:

Don't you get it b**ch, no one can hear you?
Now shut the f*** up and get what's comin to you
You were supposed to love me
{*Kim choking*}
NOW BLEED! b**ch BLEED!
BLEED! b**ch BLEED! BLEED!

Yes, those are the rage-filled lyrics of a song by Eminem about his ex-wife, called “Kim.”

This summer, Eminem was contacted by my friend, Dr. Carthage Carroll, about a patient suffering from Cystic Fibrosis, who considered himself Eminem’s biggest fan: David Smith.

David knew all of his songs, dyed his hair blonde at one stage, and even, got tattoos to match many of Eminem’s. His friends and other hospital employees talked about how most days, they’d see him traipsing around the hospital with his Ipod on, rapping along with Eminem.

He was 28 years old, and had suffered from CF since birth. It’s an awful disease that manifests itself in the form of very painful lung and gastric troubles, susceptibility to life-threatening infections(which thus limits their activities dramatically), and a projected lifespan of, at most, around 30 years old.

Moved by David’s story, Eminem excitedly made plans to meet with him during his trip to Dublin for this summer’s Oxegen music festival.

Sadly, David died the night before Eminem came to Dublin. His mother even said that after his body was laid out in their house, she opened the windows so he could “hear” the music streaming in from the nearby festival.

Carthage was told that an emergency meeting was called by Eminem’s managers and handlers before he flew to Dublin, to ensure that nobody would tell him about David, because they knew he would be too distraught to travel anywhere beyond the comfort of his own room.

During the night of his Oxegen performance, Eminem made a special tribute to the young man, dedicating his “Sing for the Moment” remix to him. It was a fitting song, which includes these lyrics:

“we sing for these kids, who don't have a thing
Except for a dream, and a f***in' rap magazine
Who post pin-up pictures on their walls all day long
Idolize they favorite rappers and know all they songs...
We're nothin' to you but we're the f**in' sh** in they eyes
That's why we seize the moment try to freeze it and own it, squeeze it and
hold it
Cause we consider these minutes golden”

This week, David’s family watched the video footage of this dedication, which Eminem specifically sent over for them to view. The hospital hosted a screening for the family, and Carthage asked me to film it, because Eminem had asked him to, since he couldn’t make it in person.

He also sent a dozen or so photographs with hand-written notes and cds, to David’s closest friends and fellow patients. I saw encouraging words like “keep fighting” in one letter, and the sign off, “Your homie always, Eminem.”

One of the patients who received a letter and cd burst into tears at the sight of them. He talked about how much it mean to him that someone so busy and famous would take the time to write him a personal note, and how it would’ve mean the world to David to have received such a gift.

For him, David’s death was especially upsetting, because it was a reminder of the cold fate that has been looming over his head for years, and threatening him more and more with each passing day.

But, if even just for five minutes, Eminem’s little act of selflessness replaced that patient’s thoughts of fear and pain with giddiness and cheer. He may not have been able to spend time with David, but he absolutely brought hope into the hospital rooms of David’s closest friends and fellow sufferers