Violinist Mayumi Masri Not Silenced by Tragic Accident
Alabama Symphony Orchestra violinist Mayumi Masri’s violin is like her voice. She speaks through her instrument. But on Memorial Day weekend 2017, Masri fell through a glass door and nearly severed her right arm at the elbow. She cut her artery and median nerve in the accident. And as you can imagine, she wondered whether she would ever play the violin again. Masri had two major surgeries and thus began what doctors said would be an arduous healing process.
On what it’s like to lose feeling in your hand
It’s very strange. It’s like you know that you’re making a movement. You know you are using some kind of muscles to move something, but yet you can’t feel what you’re touching. And so it’s like you’re working so hard and it’s almost like you have air in your hands. You could feel resistance, but you can’t actually feel the object in your hand. But with every day I got a little bit stronger, a little bit better, and within a couple of weeks I was able to do everything. Not 100 percent successfully, but I was definitely improving daily.
On getting a second opinion
His name was Dr. Markison. All the musicians in the Bay Area absolutely recommended him. And I saw him about a month after the accident and he admitted it was a really bad injury. But my surgeon in Birmingham did a great job and I had a long road ahead of me. But he had faith that I would be able to play again. I saw him again at the end of the summer and he could not believe the improvements that I had made. He did tell me that I would be able to play the violin or go back to work before March, which was very shocking to me because at that point I still had not played the violin.
On playing the violin only three months after her accident
I actually rented a violin and bow because I was so scared I was going to drop my own bow or nick my violin or make a mark on it. And it was a little rough. I could barely do five minutes the first day. I mean it was shaky. I’d pick up the bow. I couldn’t feel it. My arm was quivering. It was awful. And I basically did five minutes a day for a couple of weeks and I got stronger in those five minutes. By the time work started back up in September I was probably up to 10 minutes a day. In October, I was probably up to half an hour hour.
On going back to work
So I came back to work November 30th. I just felt so happy that I could be back on stage with my colleagues and friends. And I actually ended up being concertmaster for that performance. I’m a title player and so part of my job is to sit in the very first chair, stand up to new orchestra, lead the orchestra and bows, and have solos. My first concert back it was a little bit scary. But they weren’t super hard, so I knew I could handle it.
4 astronauts splashdown on SpaceX capsule to end Axiom Space’s private Ax-4 mission
The private crew included Ax-4 mission commander and former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson. It was her fifth trip to space and extended her record-setting duration to 695 days, the most of any American.
Heavy rains and flash flooding sweep across Northeast
Flash flood watches and warnings were in place in parts of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and surrounding areas as downpours moved through the region.
With temporary protections for some Afghans set to expire, appeals court steps in
An appeals court late Monday stepped in to keep in place protections for nearly 12,000 Afghans that have allowed them to work in the U.S. and be protected from deportation.
HBO’s new Billy Joel documentary is revelatory — even if it pulls some punches
The new two-part documentary, which premieres Friday on HBO, is a good example of the tension between access and objectivity that filmmakers face in making documentaries on celebrities.
A wildfire destroyed the historic Grand Canyon Lodge. It burned down once before
The Grand Canyon Lodge is the only hotel on the park's North Rim, which is closed for the rest of the season due to wildfire risk. The hotel was already rebuilt once, after a kitchen fire in 1932.
Why the Federal Reserve’s building renovations are attracting the White House’s ire
The Fed's $2.5 billion headquarters renovation is attracting mounting criticism from the Trump administration, which had been already attacking the central bank for not cutting interest rates.