Life always gives second chances and as it says, battles to its best warriors. Fabián Navarro, singer-songwriter of the vallenato group Ruta5, survived a brain tumor through rhymes and verses. In a few days he will release his new ‘unforgettable’ song.
Dai Trujillo
Vallenato and Huila may not go together as well as achira and quesillo, but it is no secret that, today, this musical genre has gained quite a bit of strength in the department. Fabián Navarro López, from Ciénaga, Magdalena, is a Vallenato singer and composer, who arrived in Huila by chance in life and the Opita land adopted him.
“Music takes you to various places, really. Delighted with this land, which has truly received me very well,” Fabián mentions with great satisfaction.
In Neiva everything was going well, Fabián created a vallenato group and his expectations were growing with the passage of time, hiring was happening little by little, he felt that people liked the vallenato parties much more and that job opportunities were expanding gradually. It was as if his childhood dream was materializing, to the point that he decided to start composing, but due to health situations, the dream stalled.
“I am a survivor of God”
In 2020, a constant headache began to manifest itself, it was so bad that not even migraine medications worked, “11 days with a headache, I took everything, but nothing, nothing, the pain did not go away. I slept for two days, and nothing,” comments the Vallenato singer-songwriter, while he remembers that that headache was the end of the iceberg and perhaps, what caused a 180 degree turn in his life.
After the persistent headache, Fabián decided to visit the doctor, since he assumed he had Covid-19, so he arrived at the emergency room of a clinic in the capital Opita and expressed his pain and the side effects that it had produced, such as lack of appetite, spasms, vomiting and a lot of fatigue. After previous clinical studies, the doctors decided to perform a CT scan. “As soon as they did the CT scan, shortly after the result came back, I had a brain tumor,” says Fabián Navarro as he remembers that strong moment.
The brain tumor occupied a quarter of his head, so the prognosis was discouraging. The singer-songwriter recognizes that at the moment despair took hold of him, anguish invaded him, since the doctors said that his chances of life were around the 20%, so the surgery was urgent.
A singer without a voice
In the midst of all the chaos over Fabián’s situation, the doctors asked his wife what he did for a living, and when she answered that he was a singer, the medical professionals literally scratched their heads and told her that he was a singer. It was too difficult for him to recover, since the tumor was attached to areas of the brain where body movements and even speech were compromised.
32 years of life, many dreams to fulfill and many songs to compose, were closing with the clinical prognoses, since the surgery was to save his life, but we must not forget the adverse effects that it could cause in him. The doctors said “that he could be left without a voice, that he could not walk, that he could be delayed. It was worrying for me because the truth is, imagine, a singer and not being able to sing or walk again, it was hard for me,” says Fabián.
faith intact
The surgery was carried out and was successful, there were no mishaps and the recovery process began in the best way. As it says, after medicine, God; Fabián gave himself to God and mentions that he was always entrusted to God. The doctors commented that Fabián’s recovery process was a miracle, seeing that he could do what they had told him he might lose, such as walking or talking, they were living proof that God makes everything possible, as he mentions.
Although the recovery was complex, Fabián and his wife, who is the only person he has in Huila, had faith and walked together in that difficult process. A few days later, upon realizing the second chance at life that God had given him, Fabián composed his first song and returned with his vallenato group to continue doing what he likes most, singing.
Today he has a scar on his head, which reminds him that everything is possible and it has become a motivation for him and for those who know his life story of resilience and faith in God. On October 17 he will release his second song titled ‘unforgettable’, with which he seeks to conquer many hearts, including that of his wife.
