Brazilian man plays guitar while undergoing brain surgery

Playing the guitar allowed doctors to avoid hitting areas of his brain that control senses, movement and speechs

Doctors were stunned when a Brazilian man played The Beatles song Yesterday on his guitar while undergoing brain surgery to remove a tumour.

Anthony Kulkamp Dias, 33, was conscious during his operation and played the instrument, allowing doctors to avoid hitting areas of his brain that control senses, movement and speech.

Kulkamp, a bank worker, started with Emanuel, a song he wrote for his newborn son, before playing the classic Beatles hit. He went on to also play some Brazilian country songs during the procedure, which took place last week at the Nossa Senhora de Conceição Hospital in the southern state of Santa Catarina.

"The doctors asked me to repeat the country song so I even had an encore," said Kulkamp, was has been playing the guitar professionally for 20 years. He discovered the tumour 15 days after his son was born.

"I played six songs at determined moments," he said, adding, "My right hand was a bit weaker because that was the side that they were operating on. So I stopped and rested."

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He also said he was interspersing and talking to the surgical team.

Speaking to doctors and playing the guitar allowed doctors to safely work on his brain, avoiding any injuries that could compromise important brain functions.

"While it surprised everyone, the surgery was performed," a spokesperson from the hospital confirmed.

The spokesperson also said, "Cerebral monitoring -- important to prevent injuries that occur in the sensory, motor and speech areas -- occurred during the procedure."

Clinical director Jean Abreu Machado said, "[By] keeping the patient awake during surgery, these areas can be monitored in real time. A kind of mapping of important areas can be done. It really is a great challenge for the whole surgery team, including the anaesthetist."

He concluded that the brain tissue does not have pain sensors but the skin and other structures do.

This article originally appeared on Mail Online