Rob Plaskas

Rob Plaskas is an Author and Inspirational Speaker about his memoir called “My Fight for Recovery: A Story of Overcoming Life-Threatening Brain Surgery.” Rob's presentation is about his recovery from a severe brain injury during brain surgery when he was seventeen years old. Today, Rob has been a communications special projects coordinator for the Illinois General Assembly since 2004. He is valued by his co-workers and friends. With his learning disability, he labored hard to get his Associate’s in Science degree from Waubonsee Community College, his Bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from Illinois State University, and his Master’s degree in Human Services from the University of Illinois Springfield. Rob loves to go to sporting events and wineries, and to socialize with friends and acquaintances. Born in Oswego, Illinois with a loving family and close friends, Rob now resides in Springfield, Illinois with his dog Maggie. He attends and volunteers at Westside Christian Church in the same city.

Some would label Rob as disabled, while others may call him a victim. Truth be told, he is a survivor and a fighter. His presentation is his first-hand account of the tragedy and terror he experienced, who he was, and what he has become. Over time he learned to confront his circumstances and embrace his new reality. He found courage and strength to reinvent himself and charted his own path to succeed in his new life.

Being an Inspirational Speaker, Rob wants to help others by telling his recovery story to give his audience hope they too can succeed in life despite their problems and issues they have.

Rob's story is his recovery from a brain hemorrhage during brain surgery. It caused the equivalent of a major stroke, leaving him unable to speak, write, read or comprehend, and left him with right-sided paralysis. It caused severe damage to his short-term memory and made him dependent on anti-seizure medicine. His recovery shows how some survivors of severe brain injuries can recover and have a productive life if they work hard at their physical, speech, cognitive, emotional therapies, and praying to God.