Emerging from the depths of slumber, Dagmar Turner had barely a chance to notice the hushed intensity of the operating theatre when someone thrust her violin into her hands. It was time to play the performance of her life.
As surgeons behind her removed a tumour from her brain, Turner took up her bow and played George Gershwin's aria "Summertime", ensuring she can still perform with her beloved violin after recovery.
"The last thing that comes to your mind is 'I would really like to play my violin now'," she told AFP about her virtuoso performance on the operating table.
The British-based violinist agreed to the unconventional concert to help avoid damage to her brain during surgery.
The 53-year-old German, who plays with the Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra in southern England, was diagnosed in 2013 with a slow-growing tumour after suffering a seizure during a concert.
Turner told AFP how it felt to be woken from anaesthetic as surgeons operated on her brain.
"It was like being woken up from a really deep sleep," she said, adding that she was then handed her instrument.
"It started fine and the first thing I really remembered was when they put this violin in my face, like, 'now play, Dagmar, play'.
"I was like, 'let me sleep'. It's just horrible."
The amateur musician described being able to feel "somebody standing up behind my head... telling me 'Dagmar, we have just removed 95 percent of your tumour'.
"I was utterly in shock and speechless. You know the day before you have an inoperable tumour and then the next day they tell you 95 percent of that has been taken out," she explained.
No comments:
Post a Comment