An 18-year-old who broke her wrist was still able to play her gig after her dad lent her a hand—literally.
Mary Leahy broke her wrist just two days before her big solo at the Peterborough Music Festival, after falling off a farm cart.
But instead of pulling out, her father Donnell Leahy—one of the best fiddle players in Canada who toured with Shania Twain—stepped in to create a very special duet.
The 55-year-old oscillated the bow while Mary played the chords with her healthy hand.
“I don’t know how, but I managed to play with my left hand only,” said Mary, a full-time musician from Peterborough, Ontario. “It was really hard.
“I honestly don’t know how I pulled it off, but I did.
“His left hand was playing the fingers on my back (which) was tickling me, while I had to imagine myself playing the bow with my right hand.
They know the instrument inside and out, so the result looked and sounded seamless. (Watch the video below…)
“I think the novelty of it makes the show better. We’re even thinking of making it part of the act.”
Mary has been touring with her parents for 12 years, after starting fiddle lessons at age four.
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The band, the MacMaster/Leahy Family, includes Mary’s talented mother, Natalie MacMaster, and her six younger siblings. The Celtic family plays festivals every summer.
After falling from a farm cart, she ended up with a wrist splint, and thought she’d have to sit on the sidelines.
“I’m usually the last person to do something stupid,” she mused. “I didn’t think for a second it was broken (but) when I woke up the next day, I was very swollen and very sore.”
Her best friend, Cecilia, who is also a musician, offered to play the piano with her, while dad jumped in on the fiddle.
“I loved having my dad help me out with the solo.”
Donnell, who toured with Shania Twain in 1997, was named as one of the world’s best fiddle players by a Wisconsin university, and has released several CDs with wife Natalie—including a Christmas LP (A Celtic Family Christmas) with the children joining the performances.
Watch the fantastic last-minute improvisation…
TICKLE YOUR FRIENDS With the Delightful Duet By Sharing on Social Media…