During the Middle East leg of a cyclist and instrumentalist's worldwide cycling tour, classically trained violinist Dan Hodd got into a horrific bicycle-bus collision, which resulted in several injuries all across his body and a shattered violin that exploded into "100 pieces."
According to Hodd's own Instagram post where he told the story, if not for that violin equipped on his back at the time, he said his back might've been the one to break and not the instrument.
"I don't want to get too romantic about the matter, but music really has saved my life in so many ways over the years," he wrote in the post.
The picture on the left is Dan Hodd shortly after the accident, holding his broken violin. While the photo on the right is the miraculously repaired violin. Both photos were posted on his Instagram account last Jan. 9.
A Good Ending to a Bad Accident
Hodd initially set out with the goal of sustainably traveling to over 100 countries within 10 years. However, six years into his tour, in December 2022, the violinist was hit by a bus that sent him to the nearby Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva, Israel.
Five months into care, his leg had to be amputated below the knee after suffering extensive complications due to the nasty collision.
That said, thanks to Hodd's violin, he was able to escape a worse fate than what he went through. Despite this better outcome, the violinist was still disappointed by the loss of his instrumental partner.
"Perhaps the saddest part of my story is the fact that my violin was hit by the bus too, and didn't end up as healthy as I am now," wrote Hodd.
After a year had passed since the accident, Hodd was somehow "miraculously" reunited with his heavily fragmented violin.
The father of one of his friends, Malcolm Williamson, was a violin maker with a penchant for interesting projects, thus setting out to collect the hundred-piece remains of the wrecked instrument in an endeavor to fix it "out of pure woodworking curiosity."
Hodd added: "Astonishingly, all of the pieces were retained during the accident, and so even more astonishingly, this brilliant fellow succeeded in bringing the instrument back to life!"
With over 12 months between now and the time of the accident, alongside the recent reunion of Hodd and his violin, the instrumentalist is now starting to set out on a short trip through France and Spain.
According to him, once he's well enough, he'll take on the continuation of his ambitious world-spanning project. With his violin in tow, he'll surely conquer it this time.
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