Musicians perform for charity on Saturday

Musical performers Kalpee, Jivanna, Shannon Francois, Nehilet Blackman and Lights the band will team up with Marge Blackman, and Freetown Collective in a benefit concert to help poet Omavi Langevine pay for cancer treatment. Rise, the concert, will be held on Saturday at the Big Black Box at 33 Murray Street, Woodbrook – starting at 7 pm.

On his gofundme.com page, which was created by his friend Jenice Anthony, Langevine shared a snippet of his experience since diagnosis in a written post. Gofundme allows people from anywhere in the world to make donations online.

He said, "I celebrated my 31st birthday on the 22nd of February 2019. Approximately 11 days after I was admitted to a local hospital in Trinidad for a low blood count level. What I initially thought to be anaemia in the month of January, turned out to be a rare and aggressive case of Leukaemia. I had a bone marrow biopsy done and was officially diagnosed with AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia) on March 11, 2019."

According to cancer.org, a website managed by the American Cancer Society, AML is defined as a form of cancer which starts in the bone marrow. The bone marrow is the soft inner part of certain bones, where new blood cells are made, but most often it quickly moves into the blood, as well.

"It can sometimes spread to other parts of the body including the lymph nodes, liver, spleen, central nervous system which includes the brain and spinal cord, and testicles."

Langevine said he believes his journey is far from over, as the road to a cure is a long and expensive one. He will have to undergo another, more aggressive session of chemotherapy, after which treatment will proceed to a bone marrow transplant.

"If I am to survive this disease. I am confident that, by God's grace, I would be made whole and live a long and healthy life."

The artistes performing have all decided to perform for free, and all proceeds will go directly toward assisting him with the costs of medical treatment which could save his life.