Leighton Campbell Photo Column by Jose Leiva

‘Living life’

At age 3, Leighton Campbell started playing the keyboard; at 5, the guitar; at 8, the drums; at 12, the bass guitar.

That was the same year he was diagnosed with primary pulmonary hypertension. At 16, he was told he would not live to see 20. Still, he didn’t withdraw into a shell.

His love of music and ability to play instruments kept him going, he said.

“It is a gift from God. He’s blessed me and protected me, and spared me in more than one way, to give back,” said the 25-year-old Lewiston musician. “I had so many people praying for me. I came out of adolescence singing praise songs.”

He had a pump surgically implanted when he was 20 to deliver medicine 24/7 and wears a “fanny pack” as part of the apparatus.

“It doesn’t hold me back, I can’t run or swim. But it is a part of me now that I’ve had it for years,” Campbell said. “Before, at age 20, I could not walk. Now I have more energy.”

The Mechanic Falls native channels that energy playing for the worship team each week at Grace Community Church, where he’s nicknamed “Fanny-Pack.”

“I want to give music back to God, since he gave it to me,” Campbell said.

He volunteers to play health care centers, including Clover Manor and Schooner Estates in Auburn, Montello Manor in Lewiston and Market Square in Paris.

Reflecting on his limitations and his musical gifts, Campbell said, “My relationship to God is more important than even music or health. We focus on the outward appearance, but it’s got to be from the inside. I’m just living life.”