Life Changing

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Factual: Life Stories

Extraordinary stories of life's turning points.

Dr Sian Williams talks to people who have lived through extraordinary events that have reshaped their lives in the most unpredictable ways.

In this series Dr Sian Williams talks to people who have lived through extraordinary events that have set their lives on an entirely different course.

This podcast is all about the human experience, how people deal with obstacles that turn their lives upside down. The journeys are not always straightforward and there are often some remarkable discoveries along the way.

Would you like to appear on the podcast? Do you have an extraordinary story to tell? We'd love to hear from you: lifechanging@bbc.co.uk

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Life Changing: The near-death experience that made me a musician

The near-death experience that made me a musician

BBC Radio 4 - Life Changing, The near-death experience that made me a musician

Jane Garvey hears how Tony Kofi’s fall from a roof led him to fall in love with jazz.

Aged 16 as an apprentice carpenter Tony Kofi fell from a roof and landed on his head. While falling he had visions of his future self, playing an instrument he didn’t recognise.

Tony Kofi is the fifth of seven brothers and was raised by his Ghanaian parents in Nottingham in the late 1960s.

At secondary school Tony was turned down for the music course he wanted to do, told he wasn’t focused enough, and directed to do woodwork instead. He stuck with woodwork as he was really good at it, and left school at the age of 16 to become a carpentry apprentice. A few months in, working on a house construction, he fell from the roof arch to the ground floor where he landed on his head.  Tony says he experienced the fall in slow motion and he had clear visions of unknown faces and places and saw images of himself playing an instrument. During his recovery it was that image which kept coming back to him. Tony made the decision to quit his apprenticeship and announced his intention to become a musician. He bought a saxophone and taught himself how to play by ear, before earning a full scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music in the US.

Scroll forward many years, Tony is now a highly-acclaimed jazz saxophonist and credits the fall with turning his whole life around.

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The near-death experience that made me a musician

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