If you thought learning the violin was hard, try playing it while having brain surgery! One patient in London underwent brain surgery to have a tumor removed and insisted on playing the violin during the surgery so that doctors wouldn’t injure vital parts of her brain that control precise hand movements and coordination.

Dagmar Turner learned about her brain tumor in 2013 and opted to have surgery last year to remove it. A lifelong violinist, Dagmar asked doctors to wake her up during the surgery so that she could play her violin while doctors operated on her.

“We knew how important the violin is to Dagmar, so it was vital that we preserved function in the delicate areas of her brain that allowed her to play,” Keyoumars Ashkan, a neurosurgeon at King’s College Hospital, said in a press release.

You can watch the full video below of Dagmar playing while having surgery: