Musician Plays His Saxophone While Undergoing a Complicated 12-Hour Brain Surgery

Musician Carlos Aguilera played a beautiful measure of the jazz classic “Misty” while undergoing a complicated 12-hour surgery to remove a tumor from his brain at the Regional Hospital of Málaga in Spain. Because patients need to stay awake during the surgery, other musicians have taken advantage of the time to perform. A Brazilian musician undergoing a similar surgery previously played songs by The Beatles on his guitar while a Dutch opera singer performed an aria during a craniotomy.

A patient played the sax while surgeons performed brain surgery. It’s important for neurosurgeons to keep their patient awake during surgery. If the doctors are nervous about hitting an important part of the brain that controls language, they will ask the patient to speak. But this is a whole new level of involvement.

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.