1:22
Tom, who asked that his last name not be used, filmed the nearly four-minute video at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where he has spent the majority of his time since April, when he was diagnosed with leukemia and forced to suspend his studies at UCLA, where he was a civil engineering student.
A Pennsylvania native, Tom began planning the video in June but was forced to spread its shooting out over the course of several months due to his treatment and varying energy levels.
\"I always saw depressing stories of young hospital patients and I just had the idea of almost doing the opposite of just that,\" Tom told ABC News in an email from CHOP, where he is receiving his fourth and final round of chemotherapy. \"I thought there was no better way to [bring a] spot light to a dark subject than through comedy.\"
He added: \"Jay Z is known around the world, so if we could get him to support cancer awareness that would be miraculous for the cancer community.\"
Tom posted the video on YouTube last Friday to coincide with Jay Z’s arrival in Philadelphia for last weekend's Made in America concert.
“I made this video to explain the everyday life of a cancer patient in a unique way,” Tom says at the video’s end. “So share this with your friends and, Jay Z, next time you’re in town, hopefully you can stop by and hang out.”
When it comes to taking on Jay Z's hit song “Empire State of Mind,” originally about New York City, Tom is joined by his doctors and nurses in praising CHOPs.
\"CHOPs...a concrete jungle...West side of Philly,” Tom’s nurses and doctors sing. \"These treatments make you feel brand new. These docs will inspire you.\"
While Tom created the music video with the idea of putting a lighter touch on cancer for those outside the hospital, what he has done is brighten up the treatment process for his fellow patients.
\"A nurse told me that as she was walking down the hallway all she could hear was my music video playing from all the different patient rooms,\" Tom wrote. \"When the doctors are conducting their daily rounds, other patients are telling them how much they liked their part in the video.\"
A hospital spokeswoman says they have not yet heard from Jay Z or his representatives but that “stranger things have happened” when it comes to celebrities seeing patients’ requests and reaching out.
Tom’s video has already received over 20,000 views and is getting even more attention this month as September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
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