By RUTH ARMSTRONG,
HEALTH REPORTER
TWELVE-YEAR-OLD Amy Moar’s love of music has been a source of strength to her as she battles against life-threatening illness.
Little Amy has used singing and playing the piano to help her cope with a kidney transplant, blindness and growth problems.
Now the brave girl is to sing for the Dalai Lama when he visits Scotland later this year.
She has been given the chance to sing for the Buddhist spiritual leader because her music teacher met the organiser of his visit, Victor Spence.
When Mr Spence heard Amy’s story, he decided he wanted her to sing before His Holiness and an audience at the Usher Hall on June 3.
Amy was born with an extremely rare genetic condition called Saldino-Mainzer Syndrome, which means she has only grown to the size of a four-year-old.
As well as being blind and having a skeletal disorder which is causing her young spine to triple-curve, she has also suffered kidney failure as a result of the condition.
When the Dalai Lama visits, Amy will sing a song written by her music teacher, Janet Anderson, and will be accompanied by harpist and composer Phamie Gow.
A CD of the performance will be recorded and sold to raise money for orphans in India.
Amy, from Liberton, said: “Janet woke up with this song in her head one morning.
“It’s called the Way of a Miracle and she asked me to sing it for the Dalai Lama, so we’ve been rehearsing a lot. And Phamie will come and play the harp for me when we record it. We’re going to raise money for children in India.”
Ms Anderson is amazed by Amy’s musical talent, which enables her to play musical pieces she has heard entirely by ear and from memory.
“This is one very special child,” said Ms Anderson. “Amy’s ability is way out in front of most of the children I teach. Her grasp on musical construction, her capacity to hold and repeat a melody, would be remarkable in a child who could see a musical score to study it.
“She has perfect pitch.”
Amy, who attends the Royal Blind School in Craigmillar, is one of few people who have absolutely no sight.
Most people who are registered blind have limited vision, but Amy’s visual perception is non-existent.
Two years ago, she received a donor kidney, which saved her life but caused her to become seriously ill.
She inherited a virus from the kidney, causing a tumour which was only recognised when her gut became ruptured.
The next challenge ahead for Amy is her spinal curvature. Any operation would be risky, but not intervening could leave her confined to a wheelchair.
Her mum, Anne, said: “Surgery would be very high risk but she is nearly adolescent now and together we will work out decisions. We’ve made many for her already, but now she’s coming to an age where she herself will make those decisions.
“The specialists are very wary of subjecting her to any more surgery – especially after the problems with her kidney – and she will probably need to have another transplant later, but how do you balance up the risks of surgery against the risk of being confined to a wheelchair?”
The Dalai Lama, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people, will spend two days in the Capital carrying out a varied programme of commitments.
His engagements will include leading MSPs in their weekly period of contemplation at the Scottish Parliament and taking children’s questions at the Usher Hall.
As well as attending a string of private events during his stay, the 66-year-old political exile will also spend four days teaching Buddhism in Glasgow and be guest of honour at a peace ceremony at Pittencrieff Park in Dunfermline.
