On The Up: How music helped a 15-year-old boy find his voice through grief

When Cameron Harrison’s father, Angus, died under palliative care for pancreatic cancer about a year ago, everything changed.

The grief was heavy and complex for the family of four, but for Cameron, who was just 14 at the time and lives with intellectual disability, the loss was overwhelming.

Words didn’t come easily, and his emotions swung between anger and sadness. That’s when music became more than something he liked, it became a lifeline.

A Harrison family photo taken in June 2021 with Cameron (left), Angus, Nicola, Erica, and their dog Lexi.

In April 2024, only six months after Angus’s diagnosis, Cameron was out playing golf, one of his and his father’s favourite things to do together.

He told Hawke’s Bay Today he was thinking throughout the round; “I hope he’s still alive”.

But when he returned home, the news he feared arrived.

“It happened.”

That’s when Cranford Hospice stepped in, offering something that would reshape Cameron’s grief: music therapy.

He was paired with music therapist Laura Halligan, who says music is more than just a comfort.

“Music therapy is about using music in a meaningful way for the person you’re working with,” Halligan says.

“It’s person-centred... It’s not about perfection, it’s about expression. That’s the main thing.”

The first time they met, Halligan wanted to take “baby steps”.

“He just lost his dad. So, we talked a bit about music. Then, during the first proper music therapy session, I got my guitar out.

“Cameron loves singing, so we just started singing. It was very natural and easy.”

Cameron Harrison finds his voice through music therapy with Laura Halligan at Cranford Hospice. Photo/ Rafaella Melo

One of the first songs they connected over was Ed Sheeran’s Life Goes On. But it wasn’t long before Cameron had something of his own to say.

That original song became Wish You Were Here.

Cameron wrote the lyrics, chose the chords, and shaped the melody, with Halligan helping to bring his vision to life.

“It definitely helped,” Cameron said.

“Putting my emotions on a piece of paper and writing them down.”

The most powerful line for him?

“You’re always in my heart.”

The song was a doorway for Cameron, with a lyric he often hums to himself in the mornings.

“And now I wish you were here.

You are always in my heart.

I wish you had never gone.

I always think of you.

This isn’t goodbye."

Cameron’s mother, Nicola Harrison, a music graduate herself and a former teacher, had always understood the power of music.

“It’s more than just singing a song together. It’s finding a way to talk him through and get him [to get out] what he’s feeling,” she says.

Nicola said hearing that song was both heartbreaking and healing.

“It’s really moving.”

She noticed Cameron’s changes after each session.

“He would be a lot calmer,” she said.

As the anniversary of Angus’ death approaches, Cameron is doing music therapy again.

Now, the teen has something more than memories, he has a voice.

Cameron and his mother Nicola Harrison.

Cameron’s story is just one of many impacted by this alternative form of therapy.

From April 10-15, New Zealand celebrates Music Therapy Week, themed “Meaningful Moments in Music Therapy – Celebrating Diverse Communities across Aotearoa”.

Halligan says the true power of music lies in its ability to let emotions surface gently.

“Music supports you to open up in a really natural way without going ‘now, tell me how you feel.’ That can be too confronting.”