A message from Dan
Hi, my name is Dan Kuckel. I am a family physician and naval officer who writes songs about my family, my faith, and life experiences. I learned guitar at age 24 while flying for the U.S. Navy and have been writing and performing my songs for nearly 20 years. When I completed my first professional song recording, my music partner said to me "Dan, I think your music is meant to encourage people." I am a big believer that if you have a gift, it is meant to be shared. My hope is that these songs and stories encourage, perhaps even inspire. I would like to share one specific story and song here that I think captures what this music project is all about.
In September of 2017 I was seeing my first patient of the morning at Naval Hospital Beaufort, SC. Just outside the door stood my Department Head and Senior Enlisted Leader. My Department Head said “Dan, can we go to your office to talk?” When we got to my office she looked at me and said, “ You have been name-selected to deploy on the USNS COMFORT in the mission to help with Hurricane Maria Relief Operations in Puerto Rico. You need to be in Norfolk, VA by 1800 tonight because the ship departs early tomorrow morning…and we don’t know when you’re coming back.” I replied with one simple sentence – “I need to call my wife.”
This began one of the most profound missions of my now twenty-year Navy career. The COMFORT set sail for Puerto Rico the next day and we soon found ourselves flying some of the most critical patients in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria on board to our large floating hospital. Many of these patients were older with life-threatening conditions. One patient in particular had end-stage cervical cancer. A friend and colleague from medical school who practices internal medicine approached me regarding this patient. He said, “Dan, I have a patient with end-stage cervical cancer that is now on comfort measures. I remember you play the guitar and sing. Would you be willing to play her some music?”
Guitar in hand, I made my way to the inpatient unit which is a large open bay with several beds and a nurses’ station. I introduced myself to the patient and asked her if I could play her some music. She smiled and nodded affirmatively, speaking very little as the disease had taken a final course. As I played her a few songs, several other patients began to enjoy the music and over the next several days, multiple providers who played music would make the rounds in the evening, playing songs for multiple patients and their families. In the wake of such a tragic storm, I started to notice this music had a therapeutic effect…for all of us.
A few nights later I was pier-side in San Juan seeing a long line of patients who had waited for hours to be seen in a triage tent. All traffic on and off the ship suddenly came to a halt, which was rare for a hospital with about 1,000 beds. When I inquired as to why, I was told that a patient had died and the remains were being taken ashore. I knew this was the patient for whom I had been originally playing music. I took a moment to say a prayer, collect my thoughts, and continue seeing patients. The next day I wrote the song “comfort” inspired by this experience.
It’s almost impossible to convey the impact of my time on this mission. But the song “Comfort” helps me do that. The song captures the emotion and meaning behind the mission and the process of writing and sharing this experience has inspired me to pursue new fields of medicine. And now I am able to further develop this song with my friends and bring it to new audiences with a shared sense of purpose.
If you've made it this far in your reading, I am humbled and honored. Thank you for reading, thank you for listening and I hope to share more music and stories with you again soon.
