Physical Therapist by Day, Musician By Night (and Weekend and Lunch Hour)

Sep 15, 2017 | Austin Ferguson | @carillonghorn

Ray Lunasin's playing a guitar to a patientIn Knox Olafson's hospital room, machines beep and hum. But there's another, less mechanical sound as well: the soft strum of Ray Lunasin's guitar.

That's the sound 4-year-old Knox is listening to, and it seems to be taking him somewhere far away from his hospital bed. Which is exactly the point of this solo performance. "Music catches your senses," Lunasin says. "It can be uplifting for patients."

During the day, Lunasin uses his hands to heal as a physical therapist at Mayo Clinic Health System in Austin, Minnesota. But at night, on weekends, and sometimes during his lunch hour, Lunasin's hands offer a different type of healing by way of playing music for patients like Knox.

 

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