The cancer survivor has been singing to patients on the wards, guitar in hand, to lift their spirits at North Middlesex and Chase Farm hospitals.
He began volunteering after his wife Maureen died and also being a patient himself treated for cancer.
The 69-year-old, who was a rocking teenager when Elvis Presley was in the charts in the 1960s, has been performing at bedsides for a year and been nicknamed ‘Elvis’ by hospital staff — although his signature tune is the Beatles’ chart-topper Twist and Shout.
“It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life,” he says. “I sometimes get recognised in the street.”
Stephen retired as a trading company executive in 2021 but sadly became a widower shortly after, then a patient himself.
After being diagnosed with prostate cancer, Mr Melzack used to joke with the radiotherapy team.
His cheery nature was soon recognised and he was persuaded to join the volunteering team at the North Middlesex hospital reception desk helping direct patients to their appointments.
A hospital supervisor discovered his musical talent and he was quickly recruited to the wards at North Middlesex and Chase Farm.
“I’ve played to people who are at the end of their life,” Stephen recalls. “You can see the recognition of music in their eyes.
“The staff make me feel like part of the team even though I’m just a volunteer — I’ve got a guitar instead of a stethoscope.”
He is often welcomed to the Topaz Ward at North Middlesex. The ward’s general practitioner Georgia Lucas said: “Stephen brightens the days of so many patients with emotional support when it’s needed most. His kindness touches so many lives.”
Stephen often plays at open mic nights outside his volunteering hours and also attends Latin American and ballet classes at weekends, something he did with his late wife Maureen who was treated at the Royal Free before she died in 2021.
He aims to continue his mission into his 70s, cheering patients with music from the days when Elvis was king.
