Even as death stares her right in her face, three-time cancer survivor, with a two per cent chance of survival, singer and songwriter Jane Marczewski ‘Nightbirde’ (30) continues to sing and light up lives
What would you do if you knew you had terminal cancer with little or no chance left of living? Chances are most people would give up without a fight to this pitiless invader that attacks with stealth and silence.
But not Nightbirde – It’s her stage name, her badge of courage and hope. The 30-year-old singer and songwriter from Ohio, US, has been battling on tenaciously ever since she was first diagnosed with breast cancer in September 2017. Since then, her cancer has come back three times – the last time in 2019, when the doctors said she had only three to six months left to live.
This was one of the worst phases of her life: Her metastatic breast cancer had spread to her spine, liver and to her lungs, with just a mere 2 per cent survival. Nothing could have been more devastating than this. It was almost like the ultimate death warrant.
As if all this wasn’t bad enough, her husband of five years, ——, decided to divorce her because of Jane’s major health problems. After that bombshell, she decided to move to California and continue with her singing and songwriting.
But in those darkest of dark hours of her life, she wrote the lyrics, composed the melody, and sang ‘It’s OK’; It has already become the number one song on itunes and You Tube, fast becoming the world’s anthem of Hope – and Life.
She has written and sung some other popular songs, But her best ones are ‘It’s OK’, ‘Girl in a Bubble’, ‘Brave’ and ‘Fly’.
When she sang ‘It’s OK’ at the 16th edition of America’s Got Talent (AGT) she wasn’t sure what would happen. But in the end, she won judge Simon Cowell’s Golden Buzzer.
This gets Nightbirde an immediate cash prize of $1million together with a direct entry into a final live performance in Las Vegas. Over the years, Cowell has earned himself a larger-than-life reputation as one of the toughest judges on the show.
To get even half a nod of approval from Simon Cowell is considered something big, so getting a golden buzzer from him was an unbelievably ecstatic moment. And as golden confetti rained down upon her, the audience cheered wildly with a standing ovation.
The AGT is a televised American Talent show competition, part of the global Got Talent franchise.
Earlier, as she walked onto the stage, nobody seemed to notice her emaciated frame. What came shining through was her radiant smile and resilient spirit.
But what wraps up her story in the end and serve as an inspiring message for the whole world is when she told the judges before she started to sing her song; “You can wait until life doesn’t hurt, before you decide to be happy”.
A hush fell across the entire auditorium when she told the judges she had terminal cancer with a 2 per cent chance of survival. As the judges looked at her in embarrassed slience, she quickly put them at ease with her best smile: “So what. At least 2 per cent is far better than zero per cent”. Again there was wild cheering, and she went on and sang her song of life:
It’s OK
“It’s okay, it’s okay
it’s okay, it’s okay
If you’re lost
We’re all a little lost
and it’s all right,”
Another judge had asked her what made her choose ‘Nightbirde’ as her stage name; she pauses for a minute and says: “I had this recurring dream three nights in a row that there were birds singing at my window. It felt poetic that they were singing as though it were morning, and yet there were no signs of it; and that’s what I want to embody”.
Nightbirde is quite aware of the fact her cancer is there to stay until the end “It’s incurable,” she says, “It may ebb and flow through your life maybe, but at the end of the day, you’ll die.”
But what wraps up her story in the end and serves as an inspiring message for the whole world is when she told the judges before she started to sing her song; “You can’t wait until life doesn’t hurt, before you decide to be happy.
Bravo! What a powerful message that is. We are with you all the way, Nightbirde.