It’s a bittersweet scene. Actually, more bitter than sweet. The video above documents a recent operation where doctors removed a brain tumor from Anthony Kulkamp, a 33 year old Brazilian banker, all while he sang and played The Beatles’ “Yesterday” on the guitar. Clearly the song wasn’t an arbitrary pick, not with lyrics like:
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away
Now it looks as though they’re here to stay
oh, I believe in yesterdaySuddenly, I’m not half the man I used to be
There’s a shadow hanging over me
Oh, yesterday came suddenly.
There was a point to singing “Yesterday” and other songs. Surgeons were able to monitor Kulkamp’s cerebral activity and ensure that his sensory, motor, and speech areas remained unharmed during the operation. Dr Jean Abreu Machado, a clinical director at the hospital in Brazil, told The Telegraph: “By keeping the patient awake during surgery, these areas [of the brain] can be monitored in real time. A kind of mapping of important areas can be done.”
Mr. Kulkamp was discharged from the hospital last Wednesday, and we hope to see him playing something optimistic before too long. Maybe a little “Here Comes the Sun” …
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