The treatment protocol for osteosarcoma may be standardized, but no two families’ experience with the horrific disease are the same. Some stories end in joy; others in tragedy. All are profound. In our Inspiring Audiences Everywhere series, we’re sharing stories of families who decided to participate in books, movies, TV shows, and more to get the word out about osteosarcoma. Here is Zach Sobiech’s story.
At first, Zach didn’t intend to share his story with anyone but his family and friends. When he learned three years into his fight that his osteosarcoma was terminal, his mom, Laura, suggested the 17-year-old write letters to his loved ones to say goodbye.
“One thing we really learned about dying is it’s so awkward for everybody, especially for the young,” Laura says. “There’s just no right time to say the big things without feeling like you’re imposing on the other person.”
Zach was open to Laura’s suggestion but was having a hard time getting the words just right.
“It just wasn’t his medium,” Laura says.
Songwriting was.
Songwriting Was Zach’s Outlet
“Zach had really leaned into music during his stays at the hospital,” Laura says. “When sports were no longer on the table for him, music really filled that space.”
Zach wrote a song called Clouds, that Laura found scribbled on a crumpled piece of paper in the basement.
“It was very obviously written as a goodbye,” she says. “I was like, ‘Oh, this is how he’s going to say it, with songs.’ Then it just poured out of him. Not all his songs, but a lot of them have an undertone of saying goodbye and creating closure for himself and his friends.”
Around the same time, Zach and Laura were invited to be part of a local radiothon to raise money for Children’s Cancer Research Fund. The station asked Zach to play a song that could be mixed with his interview, but they had trouble finding the right one to accompany the tear-filled interview. That’s when Laura asked if Zach could play “Clouds” for the show.
“I sent over [a rough recording] and within hours, it had circulated through the station,” Laura says. “The general manager called me that night and said, ‘This is a good song. It really deserves to be performed in a professional studio with professional musicians. Would he be interested in doing that?’ That was a Friday and by Tuesday, he had a local professional studio lined up with professional musicians. And it was all just intended for us. I thought, ‘Well that will be a nice thing for our family to have of Zach.’”
Little did they know, Zach’s song “Clouds” would go viral.
“The video was released Dec. 6 and by New Year’s, I think we’d had 2 million views,” she says.
