A Moment Away - Out Now

A Moment Away documents one of the heaviest moments of my life. I wasn’t sure I would even release it. My own Christian faith is an immense part of who I am fundamentally, however it’s never something I push on others. I know this story is going to sound far-fetched to some and completely understand if that is the case. However, this is the story of where this song comes from.

When I was 10 years old I suffered an incredibly serious anaphylactic attack after being stung by a bee. We were living an hour out of Blenheim and Nelson, in the South Island of Aotearoa, New Zealand. Dad and I were throwing a softball around and a bee somehow got caught inside my glove and stung me. Obviously, in most cases, this isn’t such a big deal. I flicked the sting out and we carried on. Within a few minutes my left hand had swollen right up, and minutes after we notice my breathing starting to labour. My parents call the emergency services and are told at the rate that the symptoms are progressing that their son has roughly 20 minutes to live.
And we’re living an hour into the middle of nowhere.

Being a Father, I can’t imagine that feeling.
Tears fill my eyes even trying to comprehend it.

The car was speeding as quickly toward the medical centre as possible.
My breathing by this point is very bad and becoming shallower by the minute. I can tell you what suffocating very slowly feels like as your breathing systems start shutting down. I think in moments like this, even people who may not have a defined faith might start sending prayers out to something. That car was filled with prayers.

One moment my breath is disappearing. The next I’m breathing
as if nothing had happened. The sweetest air I ever breathed.
One moment you’re dying, the next you’re breathing as deeply as ever.

I remember looking at my parents and telling them, as casually
as only a child could in that situation, I was fine, we could go home.
Looks of disbelief, and incomprehension.
Of Faith, and thankfulness.

We arrived at the medical centre where people were ready for worst
case scenarios. I was checked and held at the centre for some time
as the Doctors tried to work out how it had happened.
I was told that it should be impossible.
I should be gone.
I was a moment away.

I was given a second chance at this life, somehow.
I can’t tell you why, or give you a reason.
In quiet moments I struggle to comprehend it myself.
But here I am.
Trying to do the best with it that I can.
Attempting to do what it feels like I was put here for.

[lyrics]
I was a moment away from when they'd say I was gone
A decade would pass, I was so young, you were so strong
And the silence was filled with prayers and hopes of a sign
I was a moment away from the end of my life.

And time slows
I remember the catch I took
And the car sped
When an hour is all you have
And your breath starts to slow
But you're calm and you never give in.

A life time has passed, 20 years I tend to forget
But the memory is clear of that day, a life that was kept
I'm writing it down, I am blessed I made it so far
I was a moment away when an angel carried that car.

And time slows
I remember the catch I took
And the car sped
When an hour is all you have
And your breath starts to slow
But you're calm and you never give in.

And your breath starts to slow
And the dark starts to win
And they call out the odds
But you'll never give in.

I was a moment away from when they'd say I was gone.

Listen here: https://open.spotify.com/track/7Ijk83qs0IsVmC01dmwUbd?si=9693dff03a184792

Credits:
Written by Simon Hirst
Produced & Engineered by Simon Hirst, Scott Seabright & Regan McKinnon
Programming by Simon Hirst
Drums by Pat Kuhtze
Recorded at Parachute Studios, The Porch Studios & The Grange Studio
Mixed by Scott Seabright
Mastered by Chris Chetland at KOG