A group of injured veterans is proving to the world that music can truly heal all wounds.
21 year-old U.S. Marine Tim Donley and Arthur Bloom, director of MusiCorps, which rehabilitates injured vets through music, joined HuffPost Live at the Aspen Ideas Festival to discuss restorative programs at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Because music employs several aspects of brain functioning, MusiCorps gives these soldiers a chance to heal mentally and emotionally, Bloom said.
“Traumatic Brain Injury, TBI, is a very very common injury for the service members that get injured by roadside bombs - it’s very common in the military," he told Ahmed Shihab-Eldin of HuffPost Live. "Because music involves so much brain geography, it can help an uninjured part compensate for an injured part or [help] an injured part heal.”
Lance Cpl. Donley is one of the injured veterans participating in Bloom's program at Walter Reed. Donley, who lost both of his legs to an IED in Afghanistan, joined Yo-Yo Ma at the Aspen Ideas Festival to perform "America The Beautiful."
Donley mentioned that the performance opportunity opened his eyes to even more possibilites for his future and gave him a revitalizing sense of hope that only music could offer him.
“I never imagined that I’d be here doing a performance," he said. "And the fact that this is possible shows me that there is so much else that is possible for me to do and there is so much else that I can really fall in love with.”