Rebounding, to race again

Before the accident, he told them, "I pretty much thought that I was invincible and unstoppable."

He urged the students to wear a helmet, which had saved his life, and to take care of their bodies. His conditioning had speeded his recovery.

He emphasized the strength he drew from those around him:

"Honesty, hard work, going out of your way for others, doing the right thing at the right time, these are what will build strong relationships with others. And these relationships will not only bring you happiness every single day, but they will help save your life when you need them the most. It is not possible to exaggerate the importance of family and friends."

He encouraged the students to create a vision for their lives and work tirelessly toward it.

"We cannot decide what happens to us, but we can decide what happens in us," he said. "How we take the raw stuff of life and make it a thing of beauty. That is the test of living."

A new helmet

Matt tookthree classes in the spring semester and finished with all A's, more determined than ever to be "the best doctor I can possibly become."

On June 6, he rode competitively for the first time since his accident - an eight-mile time trial from the Philadelphia Museum of Art to the Falls Bridge and back.

His family came to support him. Matt's mother and girlfriend were anxious, "but this is important to Matt," his mother said.

The only visible concession to his accident was his full-faced orange helmet, worn by downhill mountain-bike racers who often crash face-first.

"I get a lot of weird looks," Matt said before the start, "but I could care less."

He finished ninth out of 40.

"It's great to see you back," his father said.

Matt will compete at 8 a.m. Saturday in the Philadelphia Insurance Triathlon sprint race along Martin Luther King Drive.

Dental work

When Park rebuilt Matt's face, the surgeon tried to make him look "normal, natural, and symmetrical." But Matt will never look exactly the same as he did before the accident.

Park also said Matt could suffer joint pain in his reconstructed jaw as he grew older.

Matt still has two years of dental work ahead, including bone grafts, gum surgery, and implants, being done by area dentists Alan Meltzer and Bruce Singer.

He's had a dozen root canals on his remaining teeth.

On June 10, Matt went to Singer in Jenkintown to get temporary dentures. This would be the first time since the accident that Matt had teeth.

After 90 minutes, the dentist handed him a mirror.

"Wow," Matt said, softly.

He was quiet for several seconds, just taking it all in. Finally, he said:

"That's a smile."

Read the first two installments of the story of Matt Miller's fight to reclaim his life at http://philly.com

Contact staff writer Michael Vitez at 215-854-5639 or mvitez@phillynews.com.