Surgeon who saved Davina McCall's life reveals he listened to iconic band while cutting tumour from star's brain
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DAVINA McCall's brain surgeon listened to ABBA as he carried out her complex five-hour operation The Sun on Sunday can reveal.
Neurosurgeon Kevin O'Neill, 62, says life-saving surgery gets so stressful that his hand could start shaking so he uses music to calm himself.
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Davina McCall's brain surgeon listened to ABBA's hits as he carried out her complex five-hour operation
Credit: Getty
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Neurosurgeon Kevin O'Neill, 62, says he uses music to calm himself and avoid his hands shaking
Credit: Getty
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Davina, 57, discovered a 14mm colloid cyst when she was offered a free health scan
Credit: Instagram
When the top brain expert was asked if he listened to ABBA during The Masked Singer star's surgery in November he said: 'Oh, I was. I love ABBA in theatre.
'Some people like silence to focus — sometimes you do need that — but it's about balancing stress with performance.
'Stress can actually improve your performance to a certain extent, until it becomes excessive and then it paralyses you and it gives you the shakes.
'So you've got to have mechanisms to control that and one of them is to put some music on.'
He added that he's such a fan of the Swedish superstars that he's twice been to see their avatar show Voyage.
Davina, 57, discovered a 14mm colloid cyst when she was offered a free health scan after giving a talk on the menopause.
The TV host faced the risk of sudden death without surgery.
Following the procedure, she spent three days in intensive care and then five days recuperating at London's Cleveland Clinic.
Speaking to Helen Fospero on the Convex Conversation podcast, Kevin admitted that he was nervous when Davina came round following the surgery.
He said: 'She gave us a fright because she was away with the fairies.'
Davina McCall breaks down in tears and reveals 'difficult year'
But the op proved successful, and a recent MRI scan confirmed the tumour is not coming back.
Kevin said: 'I had a big smile on my face when I saw that scan.'
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The Masked Singer star's operation proved successful
Credit: Instagram
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