Newborns struggling to survive outside the womb may be comforted by the gentle pitter pat of a musical instrument called a Gato Box, which sounds like their mom’s heart.
The box was just one of the musical instrument donated to Advocate Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn by Justin Antos, director of bands and orchestras at Eisenhower High School in Blue Island. The instrument is smaller than another Gato Box in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit and can easily be brought close to the baby.
Antos used the $1,000 he recently received as a Grammy Music Educator Award finalist to buy the box, along with finger pianos called kalimbas, Harmony Bars percussion instruments and small steel drums called hapi drums. One of the vendors he used was Dan Cerullo of Guitar Center in Country Club Hills, who also contributed about $300 of the instruments.
Elisabeth Bombell, one of two music therapists who work in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care and pediatric cardiac intensive care units, said she usually would hold the Gato Box next to the baby’s enclosed crib or in her lap if she was sitting near a parent.
“In the NICU, since babies are born before they are supposed to be, I have to be very careful about how loud and how intense the music is so that the babies are not overstimulated,” Bombell said. “The Gato Box is great for this because it is consistent and rhythmic, making a predictable sound for the babies while someone — myself or their parent — sings.
“Now, with this smaller and specific for NICU Gato Box, I am able to work more closely with the babies and meet them where they are, either in the Isolette (incubator) or in their parent’s arms,” she said.
When Antos was in the running for the Grammy award last year, his mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer and endured difficult treatment.
“While I was kind of watching her go through this stuff, I couldn’t help think what it would be like to see a child go through this,” Antos said. “These kids have this significant illness, that’s just heartbreaking, so what can I do to make sure they experience a little more happiness in their lives?”
Rather than donate to one or two children, Antos figured he could make a bigger impact by donating to the music therapy program.
This isn’t the first time Antos has shown his capacity for giving. As a teacher and band leader, he regularly offers his students extra help after school and he helped raise money to fund new stringed instruments.
Julie Przeslicke, another music therapist and music therapy internship director, who works on two medical-surgical floors and the pediatric intensive care unit, said the instruments were a big help, for some of the older children as well.
“Sometimes being in the hospital can be very anxiety producing,” Przeslicke said. “Maybe it’s getting used to a new medical diagnosis or permanent change and using creative arts to help find the words. … It’s another form of being able to express the emotional experience or find the thoughts as well as mastering a new skill.
“It could build confidence at a time when they’re maybe not feeling very strong about themselves.”
That positive impacts on patients and families made the donation all the more important to staff.
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“The phrase ‘pay it forward’ comes to mind,” said Przeslicke. “I think he’s a wonderful example of that.”
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.