Noah Waddell is only 12 years old, but he’s already great at two things: playing piano and making people smile.
Every week, 12-year-old Noah Waddell visits the Fort Myers’ HealthPark Medical Center. After visiting a family friend there once and seeing the vacant piano, he wanted to play something for the patients.
“He spotted the piano and said, ‘Dad, can I play the piano?'” Noah’s father Barry Waddell told ABC. “They were probably expecting ‘Twinkle, Twinkle’ or something, but they agreed.”
To their amazement, the prodigy played something of a, well, slightly higher standard.
Now, he is a special guest each week—not a volunteer, though. Because of his age, he is not old enough to volunteer, but he still comes to play for the patients every Friday at 4:00 p.m.
The director of the center’s Arts in Healthcare program, Doug MacGregor, said that he is a great source of comfort to families, especially to one family whose son’s health was failing.
“His parents were overwhelmed with grief … and the mother came out to the atrium and saw Noah playing,” he said. “She saw he was about the same age as her son and she was overcome with relief. Noah represented something that was special at the moment. It gave her comfort.”
The musical prodigy, whose parents are both tone-deaf, was accepted to attend the Sergei Babayan International Piano Academy at the Cleveland Institute of Music as one of only eight students accepted worldwide.
Video: Guy Tubbs/News-Press.com
Photo: NoahWaddell.com