‘You can find that hope again’: B.C. musician hopes to inspire others after overcoming debilitating injury

A musician in Burnaby is sharing his story of healing from an injury he thought would his career.

While it was not unusual for Martin Mayer to be welcomed by all sorts of fans at his international concerts, the pianist never expected to see one specific picture on a poster promoting his show.

“We arrived at the theatre and I go, ‘Why is Paul McCartney on my poster?’” Martin recalls.

Turns out the local promoters wanted to add a generic picture of a guitarist to the pianist’s poster and didn’t realize the photo they picked showed a former Beatle.

“I thought, ‘This is awesome! My picture is bigger than Paul McCartney’s,’” Martin laughs. “Obviously I must have made it somehow.”

Martin had more than made it. Being a headlining musician was the realization of a childhood dream, which is why what happened in an airport shuttle was a nightmare.

“The shuttle slams on the breaks. I fly hands forward into my luggage,” Martin demonstrates his arms stretching out before showing how his finger broke at a 90-degree angle.

His hand was left injured in multiple ways. But instead of recovering how his doctors expected, Martin was left in crippling and unrelenting pain, which made playing impossible.

“For me, if there is no music, there is no life,” Martin says.

So, through four years of failing treatments, Martin’s every day felt foggy.

“This eternal fog that had no light,” Martin says. “No way of lifting. No hope.”

He’d lost his sense of self, and eventually his will to live.

But Martin didn’t give up. And didn’t back down.

“You have to be your best advocate,” Martin says. “If somebody says, ‘We don’t know what this is,’ I said, ‘Fine. Thank you. Next.’”

And although it took 233 appointments, 21 specialists, and major surgery, after five years of silence, Martin can finally play again.

The first new song he wrote is called New Beginnings.

It was inspired by a painting that depicts a vibrant sunrise. While Martin made it in art therapy after being asked to visualize how he hoped his health journey would end, he hopes it encourages you to keep moving through your foggiest of days, until you find your own bright new beginning.

“You can find that hope again,” Martin says. “And at the end of it is that feeling of, ‘OK. I’ve made it.’”