“American Idol” finalist and Scottsdale resident, Scott MacIntyre, will be entertaining Mayo Clinic kidney transplant patients as they gather for their annual transplant reunion on the Phoenix campus of Mayo Clinic this weekend.
The event will also be a special homecoming for singer/songwriter/pianist MacIntyre, 26. He made history as the first blind contestant on American Idol, finishing in the top 10 finals in season eight in 2009. But what he chose not to reveal during that season was that at age 19 he was diagnosed with end-stage kidney disease, a life-threatening event that almost ended his career before it began. His medical journey led him to Mayo Clinic in Arizona, where, in 2007, he underwent a kidney transplant, thanks to a kidney donated by the wife of his former piano teacher.
In celebration of that life-saving transplant, and “other gifts in his life,” according to MacIntyre, he will perform his new song, “I Am Hope,” for the transplant patients and will talk about the challenges he has faced – not only from blindness, but as a kidney transplant recipient. The lyrics, written by MacIntyre, include, “When all your strength of heart is gone, when you are barely holding on, reach for me…I am hope.”
