DELANO, Calif. (KERO) —
Through hospital visits and ongoing treatments, one thing has remained constant for Marques: his love for music. Now, Make-A-Wish is making sure that passion can keep playing on.
For Delano teenager Marques Urbano, this isn't just the sound of a clarinet.
It's the sound of something he refused to give up.
At just 18 years old, Marques has gone through more than most people. Putting his life on hold to attend hospital visits after being diagnosed with kidney disease.
“He had to stop doing band last year because he had to do home schooling so that was really rough, so to be back and have him pick up an instrument again and play again, it was really nice,” said mother of Marquez, Gladys Romualdo.
Going from band practice to hospital visits, his mother says music was the one thing that gave him hope.
“With his transplant surgery, they had to do a procedure where he was awake and they were like what do you want to do like do you want to watch a show or a movie, and he said no play a song,” said Romualdo.
After graduating from Delano High School, Marques says he wanted to continue playing the clarinet, just like he did in his high school band.
That’s when Make-A-Wish jumped in. Surprising him with a limo ride from Delano all the way to Nick Rail Music in Bakersfield, and going home with a brand new Buffet Crampon E-13 clarinet.
“For him to be able to use this as an outlet and to find peace and joy and all those things, music is for everyone and it’s wonderful,” said Owner and President of Nick Rail Music Laura Penrose.
The recent graduate says he’ll be taking a year off school before going to college and already has plans on what he’s going to do.
“I’m excited I can’t wait to get back to playing, I’m probably going to open it up and play it when I get home,” said Marquez Urbano.
For Marques and his family, this gift is more than a clarinet, it's a chance to focus on music instead of medicine.
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