WATCH: Hodgkin's Survivor Lives Out Dream with Country Music Legend Garth Brooks

Nick Kangadis | November 15, 2016
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(Image: Screenshot/YouTube)

“I will sail my vessel, til the river runs dry.” – Garth Brooks, "The River"

Those classic lyrics by country music legend Garth Brooks have never been more applicable than in the case of Danielle El-Jor.

El-Jor has a dream of becoming a singer and she was going to head to New York to audition for the television show, "The Voice."

Instead of going to the audition, the Midlothian, Va. native had to begin another monumental moment that would definitely change her life: chemotherapy. The treatments for El-Jor’s diagnosis of stage three Hodgkin’s Lymphoma began on her 19th birthday.

“I had no time to postpone chemotherapy because it was rapidly spreading in my body," El-Jor told WTVR. "There were mornings I couldn’t get out of bed and walk, so the days that I could... I was grateful for those days.”

A friend of El-Jor heard about a local radio contest that was giving away tickets to the Garth Brooks concert in Richmond. The winner of the contest was the person who told the story of someone they knew fighting through adversity.

Needless to say, El-Jor’s friend won the contest for her, and El-Jor not only got to go to the Brooks concert, but also got to be part of a “meet-and-greet” with Brooks and his wife, country music singer Trisha Yearwood.

K95 radio host Billy D told WTVR:

Her friend told us that Danielle had suffered through and beaten Hodgkin's lymphoma. During our meet and greet with Garth and Trisha, Danielle shared even more that we didn't know; she was actually supposed to try out for The Voice on the day she was diagnosed and never got a chance to sing.

El-Jor and her family got to meet Brooks and Yearwood the day before Brooks’ concert this past Sunday.

El-Jor said, “We went in and we met Garth and Trisha and sat down with him and it was like talking to my neighbors, like parents, so casual they were the nicest sweetest people.”

In typical Brooks fashion, he asked El-Jor about her dreams, and she told him about her love of singing.

With that, Brooks asked El-Jor what she was doing the next day, and if she would like to join him during his soundcheck session before the show.

El-Jor joined Brooks for soundcheck the next day and must have impressed him, because Brooks then asked El-Jor to perform a song with him during the show.

According to WTVR, Brooks and El-Jor agreed to sing “I Told You So..." by Carrie Underwood, featuring Randy Travis together that evening.

Of course, El-Jor and Brooks sang together like two hummingbirds in perfect harmony.

What El-Jor said after the experience speaks volumes about Brooks:

It was like I was on stage with my best friend he was amazing! Looking into Garth's eyes, you could just see the dad in him. I felt like he would never want to see his daughter in the position I was in. I feel like he was almost looking at me like a daughter figure, like if this was my little girl and sitting in the audience I would want someone to do this for me.

WTVR also reported:

Danielle’s biopsy came back clear, but her doctors are still watching a spot on her liver.

“We’re waiting for it to either grow or shrink, our prayers are for it to shrink, but I’m not worried about it,” said Danielle. “I feel great!  “How could you not feel great right?  I’m on cloud nine.”

Congratulations to Danielle for at least being able live out a little piece of her dream, and a thank you to Garth Brooks for showing what people with the platform a celebrity has should really be.

For video of El-Jor and Brooks singing together, watch below:

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