OneRepublic Calls Epileptic Teen Onstage, Then He Grabs Microphone For Once In A Lifetime Performance.

Last week, 17-year-old Brendan Prince performed alongsideĀ OneRepublic in front of thousands of screaming fans in Canada. Watching the performance, you’d never guess this time last year Brendan was preparing for intensive brain surgery.

Brendan suffers from epilepsy and deals with seizures every single day. In the past 2-and-a-half years, Brendan has undergone four procedures, including one last September wherein surgeons removed a golf-ball-sized piece of his brain.

When the Make-A-Wish Foundation heard Brendan’s story, they decided to do give him a special night he’d never forget. So last week, a limo picked up Brendan, his parents, and his 2 younger siblings to take them to hear OneRepublic, a group Brendan has idolized since 2010. The fam got the royal treatment before the concert: new clothes, haircuts, dinner, and a chance to hang with the band backstage before the show.

Mad Love Saratoga! šŸ™#HondaCivicTour #1RSaratoga

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“It was surreal. It was being treated in a way that you feel like only rock stars or the Edmonton Oilers or celebrities get treated,” said Brendan’s dad. “We felt special.”

But the best part, by far, was when the band called Brendon onstage to sing a duet. Brendan is a big theatre guy, so he’s no stranger to the stage, but he’d never done anything like this before!

Brendan performed OneRepublicā€™s ā€œI Lived,ā€a song Brendan has performed before in talent shows. “I just relate to it on such a personal level because of all the surgeries I’ve been through,” he said.

His parents were emotional watching the performance. “To be able to see him on stage with someone who he literally idolizes, and to see that person put his arm around him and sing with himā€¦ it was almost more than we could bear,” said Dad. Brendan, however, kept it together until he got offstage. “Even before I was down the stairs and I saw my mom wiping her eyes and I got a bit weepy,” he said.

Thanks for singing with us tonight Brendan šŸ™Œ ——————————- #1REdmonton #OneRepublic

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“I’ve come from being paralyzed on the left side to performing on stage at Rogers Place,” Brendan said. “This is going to stick with me forever.”

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