She was terrified waiting for surgery. Then her anesthesiologist began to sing

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Samantha Hodge-Williams in 2006.

This story is part of the My Unsung Hero series, from the Hidden Brain team. It features stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else.

In 1996, when Samantha Hodge-Williams was 20, doctors discovered she had a large ovarian mass. She worried it was cancerous, as her grandmother had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

The day of her emergency surgery, performed at a medical center in Baltimore, is etched in Hodge-Williams' memory.

Wearing nothing but a hospital gown, she was wheeled into the surgical room. She remembers being surrounded by doctors, the clamor of their metal surgical tools, and the feeling of being alone.

"It seemed kind of like the hustle and bustle — that they were getting on with their jobs, not really thinking about what it would be like for me to be going into this situation where I was really terrified,” Hodge-Williams said.

But that changed when the anesthesiologist arrived. Hodge-Williams recalled that she had a kind smile and a scrub cap covered in sunflowers.

“And she said to me, ‘OK, why don't you think about something that you like to do?’”

At first, Hodge-Williams thought the question was strange. Here she was, terrified about what was going to happen in the next few hours, and her anesthesiologist was asking her what she liked to do for fun.

"In a kind of cheeky way, I said back to her, ‘Well, what do you like to do?’” Hodge-Williams recalled. “And very calmly, she said to me, ‘I like to sing.’”

So Hodge-Williams asked her to sing.

“Then she proceeded to start singing ‘The Phantom of the Opera,’ which is what I drifted off to into the surgery,” Hodge-Williams remembered. “It was the most lovely thing.”

In the years since that day, Hodge-Williams has continued to face health challenges, and she’s had to undergo multiple surgeries. But she still imagines that doctor by her side.

“I can picture her almost with me through every surgery: her reassuring voice, how much it meant to me ... not just the science of medicine, but the compassion and care to take a few moments to care for me,” Hodge-Williams said.

“So I will always be grateful to her. And I don't know her name, but thank you.”

My Unsung Hero is also a podcast — new episodes are released every Tuesday. To share the story of your unsung hero with the Hidden Brain team, record a voice memo on your phone and send it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.