New Jersey mom sings Taylor Swift songs during brain surgery

NEPTUNE TWP., New Jersey (WPVI) -- A New Jersey woman is taking "Swiftie" fandom to the next level.

Selena Campione had to be awake during brain surgery.

So, to overcome her fears, she didn't miss a beat. She sang all the right notes of the Taylor-made tunes.

"How did you come up with reciting Taylor Swift lyrics during the surgery?" asked Action News' Christie Ileto.

"It's me!" said Campione's daughter.

"That would be from my daughters, they're big Taylor Swift fans" added Campione. "As soon as we showed the girls a video of Dr. [Nitesh] Patel doing surgery on someone else singing, the girls said right away that you have to sing Taylor Swift."

Campione basically performed her own Eras Tour in the operating room at the Hackensack Meridian Neuroscience Institute at Jersey Shore University Medical Center.

It was a way for the 36-year-old to stay alert during a life-saving procedure while also keeping her girls top of mind.

Last March, Campione says she had been experiencing numbness on the right side of her body, impacting her speech and motor skills.

Turns out, she had a slow-growing tumor on the left side of her brain.

Dr. Patel proposed an awake craniotomy to remove it.

Staying awake during this kind of surgery helps doctors know what to touch.

"If you're operating an area where speech is important, I have no way to know that this line I am drawing -- as to what is tumor or normal brain -- is a safe line or not," said Dr. Patel, the co-director of Neurosurgical Oncology at Jersey Shore University Medical Center.

Dr. Patel says he's now become a Swiftie thanks to Campione, who is now a few months post-surgery and symptom-free.