Alama Kante, a Parisian singer originally from Guinea, recently sang though a complicated surgery in order to save her voice.
The 31-year-old mother of one had a tumour on her Parathyroid gland, a collection of grain-sized glands that regulate calcium levels in the body. Kante had been concerned that she would lose her singing voice as a result of the operation. Doctors too, were concerned saying even the smallest nick of her vocal chords would render the musician songless.
As a solution doctors at the Henri Mondor Hospital near Paris put her on local anaesthetic, meaning she was awake during the surgery, and then put her under hypnosis where she was told she would be ‘going on a journey to Senegal’. She then began to sing songs from her albums Generation Sabaar and To-Long, which allowed the doctors to avoid cutting her vocal chords.
“She went into a trance listening to the words of the hypnotist. She went a long way away, to Africa.” Head of Anaesthesia, Gilles Dhonneur, told French magazine Le Fiargo. “And she began to sing – it was amazing.”
This is the first time the operation, which shows a successful blending of medical and alternative practices, has been performed in such a way.
On the experience Kante said that “it’s as though I was not in the operating theatre at all, I was far away in Senegal”.
She has now made a full recovery and hopes to release a new album soon.
