Incredible footage has captured the moment a patient played violin while surgeons removed an aggressive tumour from her brain.
In the video - which you can watch above - a woman can be seen playing away while a medical curtain masks the doctors operating behind her head.
She gently glides the bow up and down, keeping her eyes shut as she lies on her back on top of an operating table.
The patient at King’s College Hospital NHS foundation Trust, in London, was woken up after her skull was taken away and was asked to play to ensure certain parts of her brain that control coordination were not damaged.
Dagmar Turner, a 53-year-old committed violinist, played the instrument during the millimetre-precise surgery so the team could monitor the parts of her brain that control fine hand movements.
The former management consultant, who performs in the Isle of Wight Symphony Orchestra, was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2013 after suffering from a seizure during a symphony.
As her tumour was in the right frontal lobe of her brain, she was concerned that surgery would mean losing her ability to play since it was near the area that controls delicate movements of her left hand.
Fortunately, a neurosurgeon at King’s College Hospital thought of an idea that would help lessen the risk.
Professor Keyoumars Ashkan, who also shares Dagmar's passion for music, alongside several other doctors, made a intricate map of her brain to see which areas were active whenever she played.
Together, they performed a craniotomy and removed part of her skull before waking her up from the anaesthetic.
Anaesthetists and a therapist carefully monitored her brain while doctors removed the tumour as she played.
Professor Ashkan said: "We managed to remove over 90 per cent of the tumour, including all the areas suspicious of aggressive activity, while retaining full function in her left hand."
Dagmar was discharged three days later and was well enough to return home to her husband and son.
Speaking of her experience, she said: “The violin is my passion. I’ve been playing since I was 10 years old. The thought of losing my ability to play was heartbreaking.”
King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of the UK’s largest and busiest teaching hospitals, training over 900 dentists, 750 doctors and 300 nurses every year.
