Petra's Story

David Montero: Aurora, Colo. » Each morning for the past few days, Austin Hogan has carefully pulled out his clarinet, put in a reed and played music in the hospital room. His audience, lying on her back, is quiet and lets it wash over her. The first day he did it, Hogan played something from Mozart. The next day, she asked for something faster. For Petra Anderson — whose survival is nothing short of a miracle, says her doctor ­— the music delivers something the tubes snaking into her arm from the IV drip simply can't.

It feeds her soul.

Before July 20, the 22-year-old was known by those in the music world and by family and friends as a gifted composer and violinist whose tendencies leaned…