Gareth Malone teaches people with lung problems to sing in video

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Cynthia Davies, 64, grew up in the Welsh valleys surrounded by coalmines
She developed bronchiectasis and needed half her lung removed
Cynthia deteriorated this year, needing an oxygen tank to get around
She took part in Gareth Malone's Breathless Choir project to sing again

By Phoebe Jackson-edwards For Mailonline

Published: 05:53 EST, 20 November 2015 | Updated: 11:40 EST, 20 November 2015

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A woman who developed a condition which left her struggling to breathe and needing half of her lung removed has been able to sing again.

Cynthia Davies, 64, grew up in Caernarfonshire, Wales, where there were many coal mines in use. This contributed to her developing bronchiectasis, a long-term condition which causes infections, breathlessness and coughing.

Cynthia, who loved to sing as a child, was unable to perform for years until she had specialist training and joined the 'Breathless' choir with other sufferers of conditions affecting their breathing.

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Cynthia Davies, 64, grew up in Caernarfonshire, Wales, when there were many coal mines in use which contributed to her developing bronchiectasis, a long-term condition which causes breathing problems

She took part in Gareth Malone's 'Breathless Choir' in New York with 17 other sufferers of airways-related conditions after she deteriorated this year and now needs oxygen tanks to get around

The choir, which has members all suffering from varying forms of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), was organised by London Symphony Orchestra choirmaster Gareth Malone.

Gareth teaches the members techniques to help them get their voice back, and the 18-strong choir sung The Police's 'Every Breath You Take' in an emotional concert in Harlem, New York.

Cynthia took it in good humour and called it a 'funny' song to sing in the circumstances, adding that the members enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek tone of their performance.

Cynthia, who now works as a teacher in Brooklyn, New York, remembered growing up around soot and smog. With coal mines being the main source of work for the community it's unsurprising she developed asthma in her childhood.

She said: 'It was normal to have everyone coughing regularly and everyone was a miner.

'I was coughing all the time. It was in the air, there was pollution everywhere. I remember when my mum hung out the washing, you had to wipe the line first it was so black.'

Cynthia pictured during her childhood in Wales where many people were miners and the pollution could be seen in the air as a result of the coal

At 28 (pictured), Cynthia needed serious surgery and had an operation to remove half of her lung and fit a 'balloon-like' apparatus to help her breathe, which alleviated her symptoms for some time

Cynthia remembered growing up around soot and smog, with several coal mines in the area one of the main sources of work for the community it's unsurprising she developed asthma in her childhood. Pictured chatting with a fellow member of the Breathless Choir

This year Cynthia, pictured right at rehearsals, deteriorated and struggled to talk or walk, nevermind sing

Plus back in the 1950s, coal fires were how families stayed warm because it was the cheapest option, and both of her parents were also smokers, back when people didn't know the dangers of second-hand smoke.

As a child Cynthia was a keen singer because, growing up in the Valleys, 'it's just what everyone did'.

She said: 'I went to Sunday school and sang, I went to school and sang. It was everyone, it was part of the culture there.

'Every year on St David's Day the school shut and the choirs in the area competed against each other,' she added.

Cynthia was so used to coughing she hardly noticed her deterioration, but in her mid-twenties she was diagnosed with bronchiectasis, a type of COPD.

It's a long-term condition where the airways of the lungs become abnormally widened, leading to a build-up of excess mucus that can make the lungs more vulnerable to infection, causing breathlessness and coughing.

At 28 she needed serious surgery and had an operation to remove half of her lung and fit a 'balloon-like' apparatus to help her breathe, which alleviated her symptoms for some time.

The choir performed in September at the Apollo Theatre in New York. For many members it was the first time they had been able to sing in years

Gareth teaches the members techniques to help them get their voice back, and the 18-strong choir sung The Police's 'Every Breath You Take' in the emotional concert

Cynthia said the members enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek tone of their performance. The members celebrate after the emotional performance in front of friends and family which Cynthia called 'empowering'

She said: 'I had a good 10 years after that and was so much better. It's like a balloon and it just expands.'

She was able to live a normal life until her condition slowly deteriorated again.

Cynthia said: 'In the last five years, cycling and dancing and all of that, I chose not to do.'

She'd avoid running up the stairs or taking the subway due to the poor air quality.

But this year was 'exceptional' and she fell extremely ill in March, after her lung capacity reached new lows.

Struggling to talk or walk, nevermind sing, she was given oxygen canisters to use every day, but said she felt like her life was over and she would be 'trapped inside' forever.

Cynthia said: 'I felt tethered to this 50-foot tube and felt it was a slippery slope.'

She also has to manually empty her lungs of mucus each day using a machine that looks like a 'scuba-diving life jacket.'

Gareth Malone believed the choir would take strength in their singing. He said: 'All through history, people have sung and made music because it makes you feel better about yourself. It makes you feel better about your fellow man.

To help her recovery, Cynthia went through 10 weeks with a personal trainer as her body had suffered muscle wastage in her weak state.

'I was lying there hooked up to a lung and heart monitor with my very own personal trainer,' she joked, looking on the bright side.

'It helped make the shift to me using my oxygen as an empowerment,' she said, adding that she could now carry around her oxygen tank 'like a purse'.

Cynthia is lucky to have a supportive partner, William, and when she joined the choir she met others in far worse situations than herself.

Cynthia said: 'Most people were using oxygen, most in much more dire straits than me.

'The choir gave me somewhere to be a little more normal.'

The rest of the choir come from all walks of life and are all from the US apart from Cynthia.

One woman is a former opera singer who had been unable to use her voice for years, while a front-line rescuer from the 9/11 attacks, Lawrence Reiss, also took part.

Gareth used different techniques to help them sing over several days' work and they then performed on stage in September.

Gareth said: 'I am no doctor, but I see the impact music has made on these people's lives. And I see how much good singing has done in their souls and I think a little bit in their bodies as well'

Although it might seem a small event to get on stage at the Apollo Theatre, Cynthia said: 'It was very empowering, to stand in front of an audience and sing at one of the major venues in New York.'

Although she's based in the US, she watched episodes of BBC's The Choir, which Gareth starred in, and said she loved working with him.

'He was patient and kind - some of us didn't make it sometimes with the singing,' she added.

Gareth believed the choir would find strength in their singing.

He said: 'All through history, people have sung and made music because it makes you feel better about yourself. It makes you feel better about your fellow man.

'It comforts, it consoles, it amuses, and it's so simple; it's just you and your voice, and your breath.

'I am no doctor, but I see the impact music has made on these people's lives. And I see how much good singing has done in their souls, and I think a little bit in their bodies as well.'

HOW A 9/11 RESPONDER WAS ABLE TO SING AGAIN

On September 11 2001, Lawrence Reiss responded to the New York World Trade Center attack as an EMS volunteer and was buried by debris while searching for survivors.

Lawrence, who lives on Long Island, New York, said he simply stopped hearing music and singing following the horrors of 9/11.

He said when approaching the scene at the World Trade Center 'firefighters and EMS went silent as the scene came into view and we saw the smoke going up.'

He said he was afraid of not being able to do something, or not knowing what to do.

He remembered how an old firefighter, unshaven and grizzled, got down on his knees and said 'Brothers, let us pray'.

Larence Reiss responded to the New York World Trade Center attack on 9/11 as an EMS volunteer and was buried under debris while searching for survivors. He simply stopped hearing music and singing since experiencing the horrors of that day

'I’m not a person of faith. But I’ll always remember the power of what he did in that moment, how it bound us together and gave me strength.

'I was lucky in a lot of ways that day. One was in getting to be part of that moment.

'On that day so many horrible things happened to so many people. The worst of humanity was on display.

'But as a rescue worker, I saw people pulling together to do good. I got to see the best of humanity.'

But he was left with breathing problems because of the debris he experienced.

He said: 'I didn’t realise I’d stopped hearing music and stopped singing in the shower after 9/11. Not that I ever could play an instrument or carry a tune. I just sang in the shower when I felt like it.

'I didn’t decide to stop. It just happened.

Now as he drifts to sleep, waiting for his medication to work, he thinks of the Breathless Choir and their performance of 'Every Breath You Take'.

'Hearing them in my mind, singing with them, reminds me how lucky I am.

'I fell asleep with a song and feeling grateful.'