Intubated coronavirus patient thanks hospital staff with violin serenade

Coronavirus patient Grover Wilhelmsen’s request from his bed in an intensive care unit in Utah was a request his medical team had likely never heard before.

Intubated and unable to speak at Intermountain Healthcare’s McKay-Dee Hospital in October, the retired music teacher used a paper and pen to ask if his wife Diana could bring his violin so he could play a Thank you doctors and nurses.

“Was he speaking through that violin?” CBS News asked Diana.

“It was the only way he could speak, and he let the violin speak for him because he couldn’t speak to himself,” she said.

He wrote the note to nurse Ciara Sase, who said she cried when hearing him play for the first time. She was so inspired that she played the music in the hallway for her coworkers to hear.

“One of my colleagues described it as a light in the COVID darkness, which I think is perfect, ”Sase said.

She said he played her heart out and it touched hers. “It’s something that will follow me for the rest of my career,” Sase said.

Sometimes music is the best medicine for patients and those in recovery.