– by Kerrie Alexander
BAY SINGER FIGHTS BACK AFTER BRAIN ANEURYSM – Keri McInerney
THERE are no more “what-ifs” in life for award-winning country and blues singer-songwriter Keri McInerney. Her life changed in an instant after doctors discovered a brain aneurysm behind her right eye in January last year, which was removed with a high-risk surgery.
While the surgery was a success, the Hervey Bay resident faced many setbacks in the days following with three days in the ICU, visual disturbances and stroke-like symptoms.
In the last two months alone, Keri has spent 26 days in hospital recovering from a tachycardia episode and neurological problems that have caused her muscles to waste away.
She is now undergoing intensive exercise rehabilitation at St Stephen’s Hospital to build up her strength. Yet, during all this, the passionate musician mustered up incredible strength to carry on and self-publish a philosophy book on her experience, titled Sanguine Moon.
She also released her latest single Waiting on the Other Side, which tells a story about the fears the much-loved country singer faced – a project Keri said helped immensely with the healing process.
Recorded at Little Shack Studios in Brisbane, the single was released in May and has been distributed to radio worldwide and is now available on all online stores.
Keri said her resilience came from deep within, using her own words from the philosophy book, meditation and a brand-new outlook on life to carry on.
“I now put happiness above and beyond pressure, above worrying about what-ifs and focusing on the moment and being happy. “I can’t explain it, but something just clicked in (after the surgery).
“I thought if I allow this to get on top of me, I’ve lost, and I’ve got too much to fight for.
“I have never given up on anything and I wasn’t going to give up on my life.” There are still days where she gets “knocked down” but Keri said her ability to de-clutter her thoughts and refocus was key to getting back on her feet.
“I’m a totally different person now. I have learnt that you don’t have to always be strong for everybody all of the time, you just have to be there for you.
“When you go through something like this you have a change in your priorities. “The music is still important, but it’s the precious people and precious moments that matter.” The next step for Keri is finishing the tracks for her apt forthcoming album, I’m Free.
“I can still sing, it’s not like I’m finished or anything like that, but I just don’t want to rush it … I just need to recover first.
“As soon as I can basically get myself strong enough, I’ll be getting that out there as soon as possible.
“We had so much success with the single, so we don’t want to lose the momentum.”
The single is available on ITunes and Amazon Music, Spotify and online stores worldwide.