Watch above: The first 2015 Cameco Touchdown for Dreams recipient has been selected and her wish will keep on giving. Meaghan Craig tells us the violinist for the Amati Quartet will sit down with her fellow musicians for a professional recording session.
SASKATOON – It’s one of the most unique dreams to ever be granted by Cameco’s Touchdown For Dreams program. The recipient, the first of 10 in 2015, is a woman who overcame cancer once and is now battling it a second time with the help of music.
On Tuesday, the media was introduced to Marla Colem, 47, the first violinist and founder of the Amati Quartet. The group performed at Emmanuel Anglican Church Tuesday, the music wafting outside to Saskatoon streets. The instruments they play on are 400-years-old and were made by the first person to create the violin.
For a moment, time seemed to be frozen for Cole as she played, all her worries gently washing away with every note. She admits over the last several years, music has saved her life.
“I think music has kept me going,” said Cole. “I think it gives me a reason to get out of bed in the morning.”
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Musical pieces that have kept her from falling to pieces along with support from family and friends. In 2008, Cole was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent treatment from April of that year to January 2009, but it came back.
“This most recent one is breast cancer metastasis so it was in my skull bone so that as in December,” remarked Cole.
“So December had surgery, January I had 12 rounds of radiation and then a day after I started the chemotherapy, so I did six rounds of chemotherapy and I just finished that.”
Her next big focus, a wish granted by the Touchdown For Dreams program, something Cole says she’s always wanted to do and will now be given the chance, a professional recording of her Amati Quartet.
“I think I cried the whole time on the phone, I was just squeaking when he phoned to tell me I received this. I really was overwhelmed.”
Narrowed down from 45 applicants, Cole’s family and friends as well as two teenage children put together the application. When she was first diagnosed in 2008, her children were just five- and seven-years-old.
“I was furious,” said Cole but she says they’ve come out OK. “I’m sure it’s been tough but they’re alright.”
Her husband is overjoyed Cole has been granted her wish. The couple met at a London music school within six weeks of her arrival. Her intention was to only stay one year at the school but she ended up staying 10. Geoff is not only her partner in life but her partner in music. He’s a part of the quartet and knows how much this means to her.
“It’s just fantastic for me to see Marla have her mind taken off the side-effects and the daily grind where a simple thing like walking to the living room is a major chore so it’s been a fantastic diversion and a great thing to look forward to.”
Over the summer, Cole will select musical pieces that strike a chord with her and the group plans to record in September.
Time she needs to recover, two of the drugs Cole takes for chemotherapy have nearly silenced her ability to play, one drug has numbed her fingers and the other will make her finger nails fall off.
“Fingers crossed that all of this is going to work in the end and it will be worth all of the horrible things,” said Cole.
On a special note, Cole plans to pay it forward to where her journey began.
“I’m happy to give the proceeds of the CD sales back to the Saskatoon Cancer Centre,” added Cole.
If everything goes well, Cole expects the CD to be ready by Christmas and says she’ll cry tears of joy when it is.
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