The latest single from KINLEY is more than a pop hit or a lyrical celebration of blossoming love, “Lightworkers” is a literal call for help for a pair of friends who were forced to postpone their wedding after a surprising medical emergency.
Just as Kinley Dowling’s friends had laid down all the groundwork for their dream destination wedding, life pulled the carpet out from under them with the diagnosis of a rare form of cancer. Now, with surgery successfully out of the way and a rescheduled ceremony, the Prince Edward Island musician puts in a (fortunately catchy) request for aid from a less conventional source to patch everything up nicely – namely, the titular lightworkers.
For those unaware, lightworkers are people who are believed to have an almost psychic ability to intuit what other people are thinking, feeling or need, in order to heal.
Here’s the full story as Dowling tells it:
“Christine Compton (Chrissy to me) and I have been friends since I was 5 and she was 6. We grew up in a dreamy subdivision with a bunch of kids who were always ready for a game of spotlight. When it was time for university we moved to Halifax together and were roommates in our very first apartment,” says Dowling.
“When Chrissy met the love of her life a few years ago I was over the moon for her!! I met Ryan and knew instantly that he was the perfect match for her. He is hilarious and is always making her laugh.
They were planning their wedding in Mexico and we all got our tickets and our sunscreen and we were set and so excited for their May wedding.
In March I was recording in Newfoundland when I got a devastating call from Chrissy. The pain in Ryan’s lower back he had had for a couple of years was actually a rare type of cancer – sacral chordoma cancer. This was a huge shock that no one saw coming.
When they met with the doctors in April they were told that the surgery would be happening quickly and their fairytale destination wedding was cancelled.
Things moved swiftly and the incredible medical team in Halifax performed surgery on Ryan for 14 hours. He is now cancer free and they are planning on getting married in PEI at a later date! It was a wild ride and I can’t imagine all the things that were running through their minds for those couple of months. I wrote this song for Chrissy and Ryan about their love story and asking for all lightworkers to help in Ryan’s healing.”
So, if you’ve got any enduring aches and pains, maybe this is a good reminder to go get those checked out, and if you happen to be a lightworker go drop Kinley Dowling a line.