DENVER — In a matter of days, a lifelong dream could become reality for a Colorado frontline healthcare worker.
John Brown, a paramedic with University of Colorado Hospital and an Aurora native, has been invited to perform at a concert that will be streamed across the county ahead of the Super Bowl.
The virtual concert, hosted by 2HotRadio, will be held in Tampa. The marketing and entertainment enterprise 2HotRadio list some of their business sectors as artist management, live events and digital radio.
Brown said he had to submit a portion of his work and then was later accepted as a potential performer, however to get the final green light for a potential performance in the virtual concert, he had to help gather donations for the nonprofit Black Love Campaign, which works to combat gun violence.
Now, Brown is hoping to gather financial support to cover his travel expenses to Tampa.
“I told my colleague about the opportunity that I had, I was like, ‘I’m going to be able to perform virtually in front of an audience or I have the opportunity to fly out there,'" Brown said. "And I told him I don’t really have the money to fly out there. And Dr. Monte was like, ‘No. We got to fix this. So let’s start a GoFundMe.’”
Brown said his colleagues immediately expressed their support of the opportunity.
“People in the emergency department just donated as much as they could and all the doctors that were there — I really appreciate each and every one of them,” he said.
Dr. Andrew Monte, an emergency medicine physician at UCHealth, said Brown’s work ethic and community involvement are what makes him a friend and dependable colleague.
“John is a wonderful individual and he works so hard at everything he does. He’s incredibly talented and when you hear the work that he has – it’s wonderful to get it out there,” said Monte. “John is emblematic of many of the paramedics in our emergency department — incredibly hard worker, always positive.”
Five artists will be picked based off of their performances in Tampa to perform during BET weekend.
“Growing up in the church, I was part of the choir and everything so we always were put out there to perform and I loved it,“ Brown said. “If I could just be a little bit of an inspiration with my music, then I feel like I’m helping people out doing that as well,” Brown said.