A marathon road to recovery
- Klas Stolpe
- 1 day ago
- 8 min read
Updated: 18 hours ago
A father recovers from addiction and a son learns healing through shared goals
By Klas Stolpe
Juneau Independent
David Cesar, 56, broke down in tears.
Sitting in his recumbent trike and hand bike, his helmeted head in his hands, he sobbed, “Last March I slipped a little bit…”
He was referring to his battle with alcohol.
His son Michael Cesar, 25, put his hand on his father’s shoulder, comforting him.
On this ride to the Mendenhall Glacier, both on recumbent bikes, they had stopped for a photo.
Side by side, they shared intimate moments.
Father confiding in son, son comforting father.
“I have now been sober since November,” David said, and the tears continued.
For so many years, it was David Cesar comforting and coaching his children as they competed in youth and high school sports and shared their hopes and dreams.
Today, father and son share another dream: David wants to ride his recumbent bike in the New York City Marathon in 2026 while Michael runs what would be his fourth NYCM; Michael plans to complete his third during this year’s event, Nov. 2. Michael has also been running, biking and swimming in hopes of competing in an Ironman triathlon, something David also dreams of doing.
“I volunteered at the Aukeman this year, and I hope to compete in it next year,” David said.
That goal, or any goal for that matter, seemed nearly impossible in 2020 when David was diagnosed with alcohol-induced cerebral ataxia, which refers to impaired coordination and balance resulting from the toxic effects of ethanol on the cerebellum, the brain region responsible for motor control. That means David will struggle with fine motor movements, speech and daily living tasks for the rest of his life.
By the time of the diagnosis, he and his wife had already separated (2019) and according to David, “I finally just gave up and did not want to wake up. It had built up from so many years before.”
David isolated himself and drank day after day. He was immobile and blacking out. The alcohol and folate/B12 deficiencies caused damage to the neural network in his cerebellum over time.
While that time sparked his most intense drinking episode causing the ataxia, his history with alcohol had begun far earlier, with two grandparents who had alcohol addictions and a father who was abused and misused alcohol. David’s first drink came at age 11 and he continued drinking through his youth, leading to other drug usage and “blackout” drinking while attending Sitka High School and Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé. He entered adulthood as a functioning alcoholic, working and drinking in Michigan (his first daughter Catherine Rule-Cesar, now 32, a 2012 Service High School graduate was born there) before returning to Juneau. He drank while raising his children.
In 2018, after making peace with his father, he went out for alcohol while his father passed from cancer awaiting his return. His drinking led to his removal from high school coaching and missing parts of Michael’s senior season and entire freshman season of college games.
Despite still living in Juneau, he missed daughter Shaylin Cesar’s senior nights for volleyball and soccer, her state championship in goal for the Crimson Bears, her college letter of intent signing and her 2019 graduation.
David was in a rehab facility in Washington when he was visited by Shaylin, now 24, on her way to college. He professed his heartfelt failures and apologies to her and she replied, “Dad, it’s OK. You’re fighting and we have so much more to do together. You still have my college soccer games, another senior night, my graduation, my wedding day and eventually maybe your grandchildren. I love you and I just want you to be around. You are my father and the only one I get.”
She was in the nursing program and playing soccer at Pacific Lutheran University when he was diagnosed.
“If there is one person in the world that has inspired me to never give up, it is my dad,” Shaylin said. “His journey with addiction, TBI, physical disabilities and recovery has been full of ups and downs, heartbreak and life-threatening moments, but my dad’s grit to continuously wake up every day and try to better himself is a testament to his character. He means a lot to me, he has in many ways shaped my outlook on life and truly inspires me to live my life to the fullest every day and not to take my body's abilities for granted. My dad’s favorite thing to say to my brother and (me) is, ‘Use me as an example of what not to do,’ but I don't believe in that. If I can use my dad as an example of strength, grit and resilience I think I can go far in this life, and I am thankful for that.”
“His battle with addiction has most definitely impacted my career. One of the main reasons I became a nurse is due to my experiences with my dad in the hospital,” she said. “Watching the nurses take care of him with such kindness and selflessness inspired me to try and be that person for someone else's family member.
“His continuous journey with recovery is inspiring, each day bringing its own challenge. The fact that he has been able to find a new freedom in his biking is awesome. I think it is amazing that his ultimate goal is to join my brother in the NYC marathon. I'll certainly be there to cheer them on.”
Since the diagnosis, David has had two seizures and a heart attack and been incubated twice and brought back to life.
At the time of the diagnosis Michael, the 2018 Gatorade Alaska Baseball Player of the Year, was attending Columbia University, had earned a walk-on spot to the baseball team and was pursuing a biology degree. In early 2022 of his senior year he took a leap of faith to pursue medicine full-time.
“My decision was guided by my dad's declining health condition and the growing need for healthcare in Southeast Alaska, especially healthcare for the tribe (Tlingit),” Michael said. “I stepped down from Columbia's baseball team and spent the time I had focusing on school, finding volunteering, lining up research and doing everything I could to set myself up for success.”
Michael graduated Columbia cum laude and spent two years at their Hobert Lab studying neurogenetics, presenting his research in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2023 and publishing his first paper earlier this year. In late summer 2023, he taught high school students basic cardio health and healthy lifestyles in Obuse, Japan, through the program House Liberal Arts Beyond Border (HLAB). In August 2024, he began his medical school journey at Harvard after a 12-month arduous application cycle.
This past summer he completed an internship at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, working for spine surgeon Darren Lebl, conducting research on emerging clinical AI tools, shadow cases and “learning as much as I could.”
Michael aims to graduate in 2028, which would be followed by five years of residency and two years of fellowship.
“I just completed my first day of ‘18th grade’ (second year of medical school) and I will be continuing to pursue my interest in orthopedic sports medicine,” Michael said. “I want to train at the best places in the world, learning from the absolute best, and hopefully bring the best back to Southeast Alaska. I would be absolutely nowhere had it not been for my father, my family, my mentors, my friends, my coaches and my significant other who all believed in me, even when I felt like giving up.”
On this biking day to the glacier, the duo are joined by cousin Robert Cesar, 55. He had grown up with David fishing with family and mountain biking down Perseverance Trail to summer jobs and the local pool.
“To be part of his rehab is emotional,” Robert said. “David is the number one aspect of what is all happening, he’s doing great and we love him.”
It was Robert in 2024 who found David bloody and confused after catching his foot on a shaggy old carpet and hitting his head on the corner of a coffee table. David was brought to the emergency room and flown to Harborview in Seattle. He had suffered subdural hematoma (brain bleed).
Said Michael, “On imaging, they found 11mm midline shift (the swelling and bleeding pushed his brain to the side), and hydrocephalus (hydrocephalus is defined as enlargement of the brain’s ventricles due to disturbed cerebrospinal fluid -CSF- flow, resulting in elevated intracranial pressure and associated neurological consequences). They performed a craniectomy (removed the temporal skull to allow swelling to decrease over time, then replace the skull flap after a few weeks). He was in critical condition for about a week before he was able to understand what year it was, where he was, and who people were.”
Christian Parker, 32, David’s son, parks his car and joins the group alongside a picturesque view of the glacier.
“Seeing him riding this bike around, I mean, just some of the rides that he has gone on by himself, it is absolutely amazing,” Parker, a 2011 JDHS graduate, said. “It makes me so happy to see him able to get out and go on his own adventures, you know, being able to have that freedom. It means a lot.”
When Michael returned for this summer’s visit, David picked him up at the airport. After a quick wardrobe change David rode his recumbent toward the pool while Michael ran there. The duo “ran” in the pool and when they left David rode in the passenger seat of the recumbent while Michael pedaled. This glacier trip was the next day and Koda, a Pomeranian/husky mix, regained his passenger seat while David pedaled and Michael joined on a second recumbent.
“This venture with my dad means everything,” Michael said. “Through ups and downs, I'll always love him. He has been my cheerleader my whole life, and it's time to start cheering for him. Every day he is battling this disease and every day is another opportunity to give in, but he doesn't. It is inspiring to see and experience something so devastating becoming something so beautiful that brings my family and I so much joy. When I am 10 hours into a study day and I just want to give up, I think of him and manage to get the job done. I'm so proud he has found this new joy of his and I hope it can inspire others to find new joys of their own.”
David credits his family for saving his life.
“I am very fortunate that all my kids turned out pretty damn cool,” he said. “And they actually like to hang out with me and do stuff with me, as well as let me participate and not leave me in the car. They are my best friends.”
He also knows his Juneau “family” has grown through the many who have contributed to his recovery efforts including others in illness, doctors, therapists, the community and many Southeast Alaska Independent Living (SAIL) and adaptive recreation (ORCA) program workers. Last June, he received his first loaner recumbent trike and days later a hand bike. His cycling helmet is emblazoned with stickers from many who support him.
“There have only been two days I have not been on either one from 8 to 12 hours a day,” he said. “I can average 40 miles a day. I explain the feeling on the recumbent trike like this: Growing up in the ‘70s and ‘80s as a child, I used to get one of those old Kmart lawn chairs, cut the legs off, tie it onto my red wagon with rope and duct tape. If I was able to, I would change the tires out with air-filled nobbies…racing all your friends down all the valley mountain trails, our version of Southeast Alaska soapbox derby, but no rules. Usually it was raining, but I am not afraid of the rain…Makes me feel like I’m a kid again.”
• Contact Klas Stolpe at kstolpe@juneauindependent.com
