TOLEDO (WTOL) - Marissa English is a patient at Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center and wasn't able to attend Keith Urban's concert downtown on Thursday. But after a social media campaign and a little help from some friends, Marissa got to meet her idol.
When Urban greeted Marissa and her family Thursday evening before his concert, Marissa’s mom, Marlise Matthews, said it took a minute or two for it to all register for Marissa.
But when it did, her face lit up and stayed that way for the entire 45-minute visit.
Urban personally serenaded Marissa in her hospital bed in downtown Toledo.
He sat with her and held her hand and talked to her and sang with her. It was ... it was priceless. I mean, a dream come true.
“He sat with her and held her hand and talked to her and sang with her,” Matthews said. “It was ... it was priceless. I mean, a dream come true.”
It was a dream Marissa had for 25 years, and held on to as her health continued to decline. But when she met her idol, the physical effects the visit had on her surprised her mom.
“The overall calming effect it had on her, too,” Matthews said. “She’s been having a lot of difficult days, but she relaxed. Her heart rate actually came down, which surprises me because I thought it would go up, but she was just enjoying the moment.”
It was unexpected. Maybe that was the reason it meant a little more.
“He’s a busy man, I know that,” Matthews acknowledged. “He had a concert last night but that didn’t matter to him. He took the time to come and see his biggest fan.”
After their visit, the country music star dedicated his entire concert to Marissa, who now has memories to last a lifetime.
For years we’ve doctored pictures to make it look like he’s in a picture with her, and now I keep looking at this (picture) and it just brings tears to my eyes because he was here. He was with her.
"For years we've doctored pictures to make it look like he's in a picture with her," Matthews said, "and now I keep looking at this and it just brings tears to my eyes because he was here. He was with her."
When we asked Matthews to sum up her emotions, two words were all that came to mind.
“Overwhelming joy.”
