As Dan Via lay face down in the surf in Corolla, unable to move his arms and legs, the thought flashed through his mind: "I'll probably never ride my bike again."

It was Labor Day weekend and the Williamsburg pediatrician, then 51, was relaxing at the North Carolina beach with his wife, Susan, and their younger son, Nathan. The family had had an emotionally grueling summer with the acute illness of his 90-year-old mother-in-law; and a week earlier, his older son, Forrest, had left for his freshman year at Radford University.

At midday, in slightly choppy chest-deep water, Via was lying on a boogie board, when a strong wave caught the board and propelled him forward face-first into the sand. He remembers the blow. His neck hyper-extended, the force of the water tore the ligaments and ruptured a disc in his upper neck. But he never lost consciousness not as strangers dragged him to safety, not while the local emergency crew stabilized him, and not in the Nightingale helicopter as it transported him to a hospital in Norfolk. Later that same day, after extensive screening tests, he had a bone graft and a steel plate and screws inserted in his spine to fuse discs C3 and C4.

He was effectively a quadriplegic with an uncertain future. His doctors weren't optimistic that he'd walk again. They thought he might learn to feed himself.

Via has defied the odds. Last weekend, as part of the 100-mile Cap2Cap ride from Williamsburg to Richmond, familiar territory for the cycling enthusiast, he rode a full 25 miles in a recumbent bike. "It eliminates the balance issue," he says, somewhat ruefully of his low-to-the-ground three-wheeler.

Family and community support

In January, just four months after the accident, he returned part-time to his medical practice, Sentara Pediatric Physicians. "I think he has increased the demands on himself and is now probably seeing the same number of patients as before," says Jennifer Altman, one of six physicians in the practice.

Initially, she says, his colleagues were concerned about how the emotional and physical demands dealing with a squirming 15-month-old, for example would affect his healing process. The fears proved unfounded. "It sounds trite, but he has been inspiring to us in the office and to his patients as well. Children don't notice his disability, they see past it," she says. "I'm able to see his improvements day to day and week to week. He has become much more his old self. This is his second home."

Slowly, but surely, Via is defying his doctors' gloomy prognosis and regaining full function. "When I look at him now, it's just like he has arthritis," says his wife, Susan, who took a leave of absence from her job teaching violin at the College of William and Mary to look after him. "She was steadfastly positive," he says.

The couple met as musicians for the Virginia Symphony, where Via played the double bass for 7 years prior to returning to his undergraduate alma mater Duke for his medical degree. "He's a really, really talented natural musician," says Susan, noting that he went to Juilliard, a top-ranked music school.

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Exclusive: 'On the road again' — Dr. Dan revels in return to (recumbent) biking

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