Dagmar Turner, 53, former management consultant for the Isle of Wight, played his violin during surgery to remove a tumor from the right frontal lobe of his brain, near the area that controls fine movement with his left hand.
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To avoid damaging his talents as a violinist, Professor Keyoumars Ashkan, consultant neurosurgeon at King's College Hospital, developed a plan: map her brain and play the patient while they removed the tumor.
We have successfully removed over 90% of the tumor, including all areas suspected of aggressive activity, while retaining full function of his left hand
Professor Keyoumars Ashkan.This is how Dagmar Turner found himself in the operating room with his violin to perform Gustav Mahler, the jazz classic Summertim e by George Gershwin and pieces by the Spanish composer and singer Julio Iglesias.
"It was the first time that a patient had played an instrument ," said Professor Ashkan, who has already performed several such operations with conscious patients. "We have successfully removed over 90% of the tumor, including all areas suspected of aggressive activity, while retaining full function of his left hand."
“The violin is my passion; I 've been playing it since the age of 10 , ” said Dagmar Turner, very grateful to the surgeons. "The idea that I could lose my ability to play broke my heart," she concluded.
● Dagmar Turner plays the violin during his operation