Regaining Motion Following a Traumatic Vehicle Collision: Dr. Mark Scearce's Story
December 23, 2025
Music composer Mark Scearce, PhD, had just finished his creative thinking class Friday afternoon of May 9, 2025, at North Carolina State University (a career he'd enjoyed for decades). He hopped on his Vespa, an Italian-made motor scooter, and traveled to the corner of Martin Luther King Boulevard and Wilmington Street. Suddenly, a drunk driver, running a red light, crashed into him. Dr. Scearce went flying on impact, his body hurling through the air. It landed with brutal force and began sliding down the highway, leaving road rash on the left side of his face, arm and leg as well as a trail of blood. The driver received an infraction for felonious assault with a motor vehicle and was sent to jail for a few months. Dr. Scearce was left writhing in pain with a severely broken body.
An onlooker called 911, and in moments emergency medical services (EMS) as well as police, arrived on scene. Dr. Scearce was quickly transferred into an ambulance. The lead police investigator feared Dr. Scearce would die of his injuries.
Dr. Scearce shares, "I remember none of it but the green light. This was followed by the next memory of awaking with my bloody clothes cut off as EMS transported me to WakeMed Raleigh Campus Level 1 Trauma Center. A care team member put a neck brace on me, and I was unloaded by gurney, remaining in the hospital for the next five days."
WakeMed Level 1 Trauma Center Diagnostics and Care
WakeMed's Level 1 Trauma Center team quickly stepped into action. They ran diagnostic testing, including multiple X-rays, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and two computed tomography (CAT) scans.
Dr. Scearce glows, "Miraculously, my spinal cord was unaffected, and I had power over my arms and legs. My right wrist was broken in two places, likely caused by the automatic response of attempting to break my fall. My head injury left an eight-inch gaping wound at the top of my head, requiring 20 staples and causing me to suffer severe concussion. Yet most damning was the fact that my neck was broken in three places: C1, C2 and C7."
Neck Recovery — Not Music to His Ears
A team of orthopaedic specialists decided the neck brace would be necessary for the next 12 weeks. Dr. Scearce visited orthopaedic doctors for after care over those first eight weeks, and at that point in his brace treatment, he was informed he would need surgery after all. He was further informed that he would never turn his head again. Disappointed, he responded that he'd seek a second opinion.
An Acclaimed Composer Meets Acclaimed Surgeon Gurvinder Deol, MD
"It was at that low point," recalls Dr. Scearce, "when my musical assistant showed me the list he had compiled — on his own over the last two months — of the best cervical surgeons in the country. Gurvinder Deol, MD, was on the list. I made an appointment with Dr. Deol — and boy am I glad I did! Dr. Deol was humble, soft-spoken, not arrogant in any way."
The day of Dr. Scearce's appointment, Dr. Deol asked if he'd seen his diagnostic imaging. Dr. Deol then carefully brought up film after film, explaining the findings. He did not feel Dr. Scearce's cervical vertebrae was "shattered" as he'd been informed.
Dr. Scearce remembers, "He explained that C2 has a 'thumb' which locks into C1, enabling the head to pivot. This 'thumb' is called the odontoid, and mine was broken and significantly displaced."
Dr. Deol pointed out that in order for his neck to heal and his pain to subside, the C1 bone would need to be fused to the C2 bone with screw fixation. He then answered all of Dr. Scearce's questions.
Dr. Scearce comments, "His patience and vast accomplishments — without the need to broadcast — made me feel that I could trust him. Dr. Scearce urged me that surgery needed to happen soon and only then could healing begin and neck motion be restored."
Specialized Neck Surgery with Hope for Motion to Return
Dr. Deol scheduled Dr. Scearce's surgery a week later on July 9 at WakeMed Cary Hospital. In the meantime, he informed Dr. Scearce that he could remove the neck brace.
The fusion of his C1 to C2 cervical vertebrae gave hope that Dr. Scearce would regain up to 40 percent of his neck motion.
Dr. Scearce smiles, "Prior to surgery, Dr. Deol visited with me, shook my hand and assured me I would be taken care of. At Cary Hospital, all ran smoothly and efficiently from the anesthesiologist to the surgery to the recovery. Later that day, post-surgery, I felt less pain than I had for the previous eight weeks."
The following morning after surgery, Dr. Scearce was discharged home.
Dr. Deol observes, "Dr. Scearce presented to me approximately two months after sustaining a traumatic C2 fracture. He had a non-healing fracture with ongoing chronic neck pain. In light of this, we discussed operative treatment consisting of C1 and C2 fusion. He underwent the operation and postoperatively has done remarkably well, with significant reduction of his pain and the ability to return to the activities he enjoys."
Neck Rehabilitation with WakeMed Physical Therapists
He was referred to WakeMed Outpatient Rehabilitation where he still receives physical therapy twice per week.
"I feel good yet exhausted on a physical therapy days," offers Dr. Scearce. "My therapists put me through the wringer, and when they learned I’ll soon be 65, having taken me, they say, for a youthful 50-year-old, that’s helpful and not just for the ego. It means the pace they’ve put me through is 15 years greater than if they’d known. I'm optimistic on the days I can stretch my head to the side maybe 2 percent and not 40 percent just yet, but in continuing twice a week for the next several months, I still have time."
Independence Grows as His Recovery Continues
His recovery will continue through July 2026.
Dr. Scearce exclaims, "I'm glad to say that I’ve let the home health care nurses go, which I had to hire out of pocket to bathe me, take me to appointments, do my laundry and mop my floor. But, I still cannot lie down without pain or vertigo. My right wrist also still hurts when I use it. Still, I can’t tell you how grateful I am to have access to this professional humanitarian who has the skills to heal but also the heart and compassion to hear his patients' questions and concerns. His total package approach is what I believe Hippocrates had in mind. Few heed his call to the degree he intended, but for those like Dr. Deol who do, his healing begins before his scalpel ever breaks the skin. I am grateful."
Today, Dr. Scearce continues in physical therapy, hopeful to return to the career he has enjoyed.
"I've taught some form of music or creative thinking for forty years, and my primary occupation is as an internationally-recognized composer. My music is heard the world over. Locally, I have written a dozen ballets for Carolina Ballet over 25 years prior to being hit. I’m not back to creating just yet — though am hopeful."
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