With the exception of family and close, personal friends, Michael McGovern rarely shared his survivor story.
As a two-year-old, living in Connecticut, Michael was diagnosed with a rare, serious form of cancer. He says most of the other children in his hospital ward with a similar condition did not survive. Michael, however, was fortunate.
He grew up, moved to the Bay Area, and eventually joined the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus.
Michael says to be a member of the group is to be a part of something special. Still, Michael's past was not something he shared with the other singers.
That is, until this past year, when the chorus announced it had formed a partnership with the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Michael (reluctantly, at first) came forward.
Michael says Make-A-Wish played a special role during that difficult time in his childhood. The opportunity to give back to those who helped him is something, Michael says, worth singing about.
Watch NBC Bay Area Garvin Thomas' report above.
