Neck Cut Into Flute?
May 2003
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- A female musician from South America has made the ultimate sacrifice for her art . . . she's undergone surgery that's turned her neck into a musical instrument!
Marina Gomez, 23, now sports eight holes between her shoulders and jaw, from which she can play any tune just by covering or uncovering specific openings while exhaling.
Marina spent seven grueling hours under the knife as the surgeon, with the supervision of a musical woodwind expert, created openings on her neck in the precise areas that would allow the woman to hit a two-octave range of notes on her unique "instrument.""It was very painful," admits Marina, who protects her perforated throat with an ornately decorated scarf when not performing. "But after hearing all of the beautiful sounds that now come out of my neck, it was well worth the discomfort."
Every weekend, Marina travels almost 100 miles from her hometown of Barbecena to the trendy Iguana Club in downtown Rio de Janeiro, where she performs four sold-out shows to standing-room-only crowds.
The enthusiastic audiences thrill to the amazing array of sounds that emanate from the girl's slender neck.
And with a repertoire that ranges from exquisite Beethoven sonatas to raucous heavy metal riffs, Marina invariably receives standing ovations at the end of every one of her shows.
One delighted fan raves, "She plays like an angel. The sounds coming out of her neck are truly heavenly. It's music unlike anything else on Earth."
Bolstered by her outstanding success, Ms. Gomez has plans for even more surgery that would transform her into a one-woman band.
"I would like to have accordion keys grafted onto my abdomen," says the dark-eyed beauty.
"And perhaps have strings attached between my knees, so I can play my lap like a cello."
This woman turned her neck into a flute!
Satan is alive and well...
