Veronica Ron-Priola: The doctor in the half-pipe
Veronica Ron-Priola, medical director for the Pediatric Health Center at Danbury Hospital, has a penchant for sports cold and fast and completely out of character for a native Venezuelan. The icy apple does not fall far from the tree and her son, too, likes cold sports; he will soon hurtle down an iced chute in the Olympics on little more than a Flexible Flyer.
“I grew up around the medical profession,” said Ron-Priola. “Both of my parents are physicians. They didn’t push me to go into medicine, but I was always interested. As a teenager I worked as my mother’s medical assistant.”
Ron-Priola studied pediatric medicine in the Dominican Republic.
“People always ask me, why the Dominican,” said Ron-Priola. “In Venezuela, we do not have college, we go straight into the career or graduate school. When I finished high school there were political disturbances in Venezuela; they closed all the universities and because all the medical schools in the country are government owned, they were closed. My parents didn’t want me to waste time and wait it out.” In the Dominican Republic Ron-Priola met her ex-husband, a ‘gringo’ from New York City.
“We got married, and that’s how I ended up in the United States,” said Ron-Priola.
Ron-Priola moved soon after to Carmel, N.Y., and then to Danbury, finally coming to work at Danbury Hospital after having her first child, now headed for the Olympics.
Upon coming to the country, Ron-Priola, once a tennis player and golfer, became fascinated with winter sports. She began skiing avidly and then became a devout snowboarder. The conveyance downhill didn’t matter; she just liked going fast.
“I think when I’m snowboarding I’m the oldest woman out there,” said Ron-Priola. “I love it, even better than skiing.”
Ron-Priola’s involvement would go far beyond a week on the slopes and a cup of coco. One winter she saw an advertisement for luge tryouts.
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