5K a Victory for Former VPCC Educator After Stroke

George Fenigsohn's participation in the Community Day 5K was therapy for him and an inspiration for others.

Perhaps nobody embodied the spirit of Virginia Peninsula Community College's inaugural Community Day 5K more than former adjunct psychology professor George Fenigsohn. Despite being the last entrant to complete the trip around the Matteson Trail at The Hamptons Golf Course, he was simply happy to finish.

"The reason I went to the race was just to be there," he said. "Nobody cared if I won, or how fast I went."

When he finished after more than an hour, the other competitors, as well as everyone else on hand, greeted him with loud applause.

"They were very kind to me. I want to thank them," he said.

A year ago, Fenigsohn was in perfect shape, he said. He was a counselor in a private practice on the Peninsula and a competitive race walke. However, on Oct. 24, 2021, he hit his head on his boat, which he was refurbishing and planning to paint. Four days later, he suffered a severe stroke.

"I went from being a really fit guy and working to almost an invalid," he said. "It happened so quickly. I'll be 75 next week, and I know we age, but not like this. This was overnight. In a moment, I changed 100%."

The road he has traveled the past year has not been smooth. He was in various hospitals and rehab centers for months. He also suffered a heart attack and nearly died. He moved from Poquoson to Virginia Beach for therapy, then back to Poquoson. He and his wife live in their daughter's home. (Their daughter and son-in-law are out of the country for his job). He spends a lot of time in physical therapy but is struggling with his slow recovery process.

"I thought by now I'd be up and around," he said, noting he's been told you make your most progress in the first two or three months.

No doctor can predict Fenigsohn's long-term prognosis, as every stroke is different. That's why the Community Day 5K on Oct. 8 was so important to him.

"I made it a point to be out in the public," he said. "It was very emotional."

The stroke has affected his balance and vision, his right side is "messed up," he has two or three other issues, and he's in constant pain. It also takes a mental toll.

"My emotions are shot," he said. "I'm very depressed."

Strokes also make you extremely tired. All he wants to do now is sleep and lie in bed.

"Which is not good, and I have to fight that a lot," he said.

When he lined up for the start of the Community 5K, he had Nordic poles (similar to ski poles) with him for balance. The last few hundred yards, he needed to use a rollator, which looks like a walker with wheels. He has plans to participate in an event in Poquoson in November, and another one in Newport News. He tries to do a 20- or 30-minute walk every day.

He's extremely appreciative of his wife and others who stop by to help. Even as bad as it is now for him, he knows it could have been worse. And that others have it worse.

"There are people who are paralyzed, who have lost their speech," he said.

The consensus when he crossed the finish line for the 5K was he was an inspiration. He's not so sure.

"But if I could get one person to overcome something that they're going through, maybe yes, I guess an inspiration," he said.

He's frustrated, too, because he didn't do anything wrong that put him in this situation.

"If I had been drunk and fallen down, or reckless driving," he said. "It was just a bump on my head."

He has an appointment with a top-notch neurologist in November and is eager to see what they discover. He knows for some, the healing takes years. His doctors and therapists say he is making progress.

Still, it's a struggle, especially when he compares it to his former life. He has a doctorate in counseling from William and Mary, was a Fulbright Scholar, and was in the Peace Corps.

"I've had an accomplished life, but this?" he said. "All of a sudden, in a moment, you're just a child. There's nothing to train you on how to cope with this."

He's not sure his background in counseling helps in this case, saying it's hard to be your own therapist.

"I had a cousin with ALS and other people with cancer, but when it's yourself," he said. "I've got too much time to think."

One thing he doesn't want to be is a victim, which is why he participates in these events and looks forward to his therapy.

"I don't want it to be said that I was slacking," he said.

Anyone who saw him at the Community Day 5K knows that is far from the case.