Local artist faces adversity living with severe brain damage
"For people like me with a brain injury, the world is a long road filled with potholes," said 70-year-old Georgetown resident and artist Robin Reifsnyder. He has been living with a traumatic brain injury ever since Aug 27, 1994, when he fell 25-30 feet off a ladder and landed on his head. He was 43 at the time of his accident and prides himself on being a traumatic brain injury and coma survivor after being comatose for 10 days. Reifsnyder has had many CAT scans, PET tests and MRIs, but has not needed surgery, as there are no massive scars or tears in his brain. Since the accident, it has been his pursuit and goal to return to normalcy, which he says has to be defined again for him.
Art has always been a big part of Reifsnyder’s life. His interest was piqued at a young age when he volunteered in his father’s art room at the Rehoboth High School. He went on to study at the University of Delaware, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and sciences in 1973. After college, he taught middle school pottery for about 12 years in Rehoboth. He had his own clay studio and kiln where he made utilitarian items including mugs, plates and bowls, or as he calls them, “expensive paperweights.”
Reifsnyder is also interested in digital photography. He carries around a small red Sony Nikon camera and photographs nature, particularly dawns and sunsets, as well as animals like birds and turtles. He’s partial to photographing the ocean and sunrise, and gets his best shots around 5 to 8 a.m.
Reifsnyder currently lives at the CHEER center in Georgetown. He goes to physical therapy every Tuesday and says he eats when he’s hungry and sleeps when he’s tired. He’s not worried about his future, because as an artist he constantly has to think outside the box, and he’s not afraid to “break eggs to make omelettes.” He’s currently working on a memoir titled “Not All Robins Can Fly” or “The Last Valedictorian.” He’s partial to the latter name, and in his free time he enjoys fishing at the Lewes Harbor. In regard to being a TBI survivor, Reifsnyder believes that he survived by divine intervention and is truly grateful for his life.
