Vic’s song in the key of life helps family grieve

Vic Simborowski didn’t get to meet his new grandson who was born just three weeks before Vic died at the age of 70. But thanks to The Swan Song Project – a National Lottery-funded organisation that helps people nearing the end of their life write and record a song – Vic’s daughter Ellie knows that one day she will be able to introduce her son to his grandfather.

Ellie said, “I know that Dad was happy knowing that my son had arrived safely. When he is older, we can listen to the song together and I can tell him about his grandad.”

Vic’s song, Shades of Love, was written at a hospice in Leeds with the help of Ben Buddy Slack, a 31-year-old musician who founded The Swan Song Project in 2017. The heartfelt ballad expresses Vic’s love for various members of his family and explains how each one of them shaped his life.