This is the story of an 8-year-old girl named Delilah. She has been battling cancer for over four years but refuses to give up on hope.
One of her favourie pastimes, while undergoing treatment, is listening to a song about her namesake, titled 'Hey There Delilah' - an ode written by lead singer Tom Higgenson from the American pop rock band Plain White T's. He met Delilah DiCrescenzo, a nationally ranked American steeplechase and cross country runner, in 2002, and wrote the song for her. It's a whole different matter that she still rejected him, despite the song reaching number one on the Billboard chart.
Higgenson found out about little Delilah through a fundraising video series being done to help her family and her, by Isaiah Garza, who runs a non-profit charity organisation called Kindness Foundation and is a social media content creator.
Garza reached out to Higgenson and the result was posted in a heartwarming video by the band on their Instagram account on January 17. It shows the lead singer suprising the young girl in her hospital room, singing the opening stanza while playing his guitar, with the rest of the room joining in a sing-along, followed by a hug.
The video was also posted by Garza on his Instagram account, where it garnered 16.5 million views with 1.3 million hearts and 22.3 thousand comments to date. Instagrammer Mariewiller01 wrote: “I am so thrilled that this singer took his time to brighten this little girl’s life. Thank you for brightening her life.”
Pattiglasz posted: “Oh Delilah, you are so special, you face such strong, challenges but hold yourself high with love and strength. Know that many people love and admire you, we wish you peace and inner strength while your life journey continues.”
An inspiring comment came from dinamleonard13: “What a pure gentle sweet little girl. Her smile was absolutely beautiful how her face lit up. You sir are an angel, how wonderful that you did that for her. Hats off to you Plain White T’s! With love and prayers.”
A short but emotional post from jim_e_edwards read: “If this doesn’t bring tears to your eyes, nothing can. Only one thing worse than cancer, a child with cancer.”
The song 'Hey There Delilah' achieved Platinum status in 2007 and earned two Grammy nominations. Plain White T's are an American pop-rock band from Lombard, Illinois, formed in 1997, by high school friends Tom Higgenson, Dave Tirio, and Ken Fletcher, and joined a short time later by Steve Mast.
