Struck by lightning—and inspiration

Weeks after a lightning bolt nearly killed him, a middle-aged doctor became obsessed with music. A brain that survives trauma, says neurologist Oliver Sacks, can develop some confounding new habits.

Weeks after a lightning bolt nearly killed him, a middle-aged doctor became obsessed with music. A brain that survives trauma, says neurologist Oliver Sacks, can develop some confounding new habits.

Tony Cicoria was 42, very fit and robust, a former college football player who had become a well-regarded orthopedic surgeon in a small city in upstate New York. He was at a lakeside pavilion for a family gathering one fall afternoon. It was pleasant and breezy, but he noticed a few storm clouds in the distance; it looked like rain.

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