NJ woman sings ‘Sweet Caroline,’ ‘Moana’ in brain surgery

July 19, 2023

Her doctors were singing her praises.

A New Jersey woman sang during surgery as doctors removed a brain tumor that was causing her to have seizures, sampling hits such as “Sweet Caroline” and songs from Disney’s “Moana” soundtrack.

Krystina Vied of Keansburg was required to stay awake and talking during surgery last month so her doctors at the Hackensack Meridian Neuroscience Institute at Jersey Shore University Medical Center could see in real-time how the procedure was affecting her brain.

Vied, 30, who had been suffering from seizures for over a decade, recently learned they had been triggered by a brain tumor.

While she was terrified ahead of the surgery, Vied found comfort in the fact that her doctor wanted her to sing — something she loves to do, she told Newsweek.

“One of Krystina’s passions is singing. She loves to do karaoke. So we figured, why not have her sing?” Dr. Nitesh Patel, co-director of neurosurgical oncology at Hackensack Meridian Health at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, told the publication.

A New Jersey woman sang during surgery as doctors removed a brain tumor that was causing her to have seizures. — Krystina Vied of Keansburg needed a brain tumor removed that was causing her to have seizures.

Krystina Vied of Keansburg was required to stay awake and talking during surgery last month so her doctors could see in real-time how the procedure was affecting her brain. — Vied was required to stay awake and talking during surgery last month, so she sang songs from Disney’s “Moana.”

Video taken inside the hospital shows Vied kicked off the surgery by singing Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” before switching it up with some popular Disney tunes.

“They originally wanted me to sing ‘Sweet Caroline’ but I didn’t know the words, so they asked me what I would like to sing,” Vied said.

“I honestly do not know what made me pick ‘Moana.’ I am a huge Disney fan. I love the movies and the songs. I am always playing Disney music in my classroom as a pre-K teacher, so I think my mind just thought of something I was listening to recently.”

What would typically be a frightening ordeal soon became a positive experience for Vied, who said it was “like I was throwing my own little concert for everyone.”