He was a doctor who secured MD and PhD from the University of Virginia Orthopaedic Surgery Residency. Then he worked as an Orthopaedic Surgeon at Chenango Memorial Hospital, Norwich, New York. At the same time, he also worked as the Clinical Assistant Professor at New York Upstate Medical University, Syracuse. Like any other Doctor, Doctor Tony Cicoria was also leading a happy life, when his life met with an accident. It happened in 1994, when Doctor Tony was 42 years old.
One day, he was standing near a public telephone booth at Albany in New York. All of a sudden, he was struck by a powerful lightning. The memory of him lying on the road in the circular bluish-white light never again faded from his memory. His heart came to a still at the instance of the lightning strike. He suffered severe burns on his face and left foot. The onlookers thought that he was dead. But, a woman, who was waiting for her turn in the telephone booth who was also a nurse, gave him the first aid and took him to the hospital with the help of some passers-by.
Thus Tony returned to life. But, he was unable to retrieve his memory. Moreover, he did not feel his previous energy to do his work. Nevertheless, nothing unusual was found in the detailed neurological examinations that followed.
However, without much delay, he was able to recover from the vexing memory problems and he restarted his practice. After three months since the lightning struck him, he began to feel an insatiable affinity towards music. He began to spend most of his time listening to piano. During his childhood, he had studied piano out of his mother’s insistence. But, he was not so keen about it because he liked fishing and sports more. And he stopped piano classes in the halfway.
But, now the liking for piano kindled in him and he felt an urge to learn piano. He bought a piano for himself and began to learn. The way he mastered piano in a very short span of time literally surprised everyone who knew him. How can a man, who has not learned piano for years, play piano with such unmatched skill? They wondered.
12 October 2007 was a memorable day in Tony’s life. On that day, Tony’s first piano composition was staged at Westport, Connecticut. It was only the beginning of many renowned compositions. He won many accolades and recognitions.
Whenever his eyes fell upon his mementos, Tony must have been thinking of the day he was struck by the lightning. After all, it was that incident, which paved the way for his music to come out of his heart!
