Deryck's deLIVERance Fund
Thank you! I've reached my goal!!
In 2007, I was diagnosed with PSC (Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis), a rare, incurable and progressive liver disease. By the Fall of 2015 my liver began to fail.
The PSC caused weight loss, severe fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and problems with digestion. A liver transplant was the only thing that could turn this around. Fortunately, a friend came forward to be a living donor, met all the criteria for compatibility, and the transplant surgery took place on September 13, 2016.
Back in September 2015 I had just started a new job as a music teacher, but by mid-October I was unable to work and on unpaid medical leave. Being such a recent hire, my full benefits never became active, so long term disability coverage was not available to assist with family support. My teaching position had been eliminated, so I had no job to return to. With a daughter in college and a wife with a neurological disorder requiring the use of a wheelchair and assisted transportation, my financial situation was dire. I needed to raise funds to support myself and my family, as I was not in good enough condition for jobhunting until three months post-surgery, when I was again able to drive.
Your generous donations have replaced over 12 months of lost income.
ABOUT ME
I am a first generation American, born and raised in the Brownsville and Flatbush sections of Brooklyn, from a family of immigrants from Guyana (formerly British Guiana), South America. I’m grateful for my mother, an amatuer concert pianist, and father, a multi-talented lover of jazz and calypso music, who exposed my sister and me to music from an early age. My life long love-affair with music and, in particular, the French horn began in fourth grade band. Years later I attended the High School of Performing Arts in New York City (was even an extra in the movie, Fame), earned a BM from the North Carolina School of the Arts, a Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music and a MM from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.
I've enjoyed a professional music career performing with symphony, opera, and ballet orchestras, Broadway shows, early music and contemporary ensembles, chamber ensembles, jazz, R&B and Gospel groups throughout the US and abroad often collaborating with world renown artists.
From 1991 to 1995 I served in the U.S. Army. During a deployment to Somalia as part of Operation Restore Hope, I had the opportunity to visit orphanages and play horn for children victimized by the civil war. This experience inspired me to shift my focus to teaching music when my service was done. From 1995 to 2005 I taught in a variety of community Arts organizations including the Harlem School of the Arts where I served as Interim Music Director.
In 2005, I became a certified music educator in Newark, NJ. In 2009 I was enjoying great success as an instrumental and vocal teacher when my liver disease began to take its toll on me. Unable to keep up with the demands of teaching, I took half days off, eventually full sick days and finally had to resign from my job. On my last day I was given a surprise assembly by my school complete with honors from the New Jersey State Senate. In 2010 I founded The Harmony Effect, an after-school Arts education organization providing free music training for children in Newark, Paterson, and East Orange, NJ.
I attempted to return to full-time classroom teaching in September 2015. After not even two months of school my PSC symptoms returned - this time in full force. And so I was unable to work and unable to jobhunt, unpaid, and waiting for the outcome of the appeal for Social Security Disability benefits. Despite living with a life altering disease for several years, I’d remained active both as a professional musician as well as a music teacher. Those who know me were quite surprised to hear of my condition, as I’ve always carried myself as someone who loves life, and whose principle concern was to make things better by sharing my life through music. I want to give back so that others can benefit from learning music the way I did growing up. I am a person of hope and this is reflected in my lifestyle. This hope has also been realized recently, as a living donor has stepped in. Once the transplant took place, the recuperation period took about 12 months.
