{gallery}03_24_09/modelclimber{/gallery} Sam Lightner, Jr., climbing "Cave Man," a 5.12 route over Railay Beach in Southern Thailand. Photo by Bobby Model (Editor's note: This is the second installment of a three-part story on world-renowned adventure photographer and Cody native, Bobby Model, and his recovery from a massive brain injury he sustained in 2007.)Bobby Model's days, since returning to Cody, have fallen into a predictable routine. According to Bobby's sister, Faith, the routine — with plenty of rest thrown in — is important to Bobby's recovery.After waking up, showering and getting dressed, Bobby eats breakfast. His mother, Anne, said, “He usually wolfs down three eggs.”

The rest of the morning is spent stretching, followed by a short nap and more range-of-motion therapy.

Some days, he goes to the therapy pool at Big Horn Basin Orthopedic. On other days, Bobby has a workout on the exercise mat at home. He has twice-weekly speech therapy.

“Bobby has had to re-learn speaking skills,” said Anne, “even swallowing, which is a difficult motion.”

After lunch on the sunny porch at his house or at a restaurant, Bobby has an afternoon nap, followed by a trip to the museum or to the ranch Anne owns with her husband, Jim Nielsen, east of Cody.

Anne said, “He's outside as much as possible.”

“Bobby is starting to work with his cameras again and engaging in some creative projects,” Faith added. “And the latter is very important. The more he works his mind and has creative outlets, the better.”

Now that he's back in Cody, friends stop by on a regular basis in the afternoons. The day winds down around 4:30 p.m. with the news, supper and bedtime.

Siblings Faith and Bobby Model enjoy some time in the sun after Bobby's release from Craig Hospital in Denver. He spent several months at Craig, undergoing treatment and rehabilitation following a traumatic brain injury sustained in 2007. Courtesy photo

A sister's inspiration

Faith Model has spent the bulk of the last 20-plus months at her brother's side.

“When you're close, having just one other sibling, you have a depth of closeness that you can't really put into words. You take it for granted that that person will always be there. (Through tragedies like this) you touch on the depth of your love for somebody, and also how strong you can be. I'm aware of how lucky I am to have a brother I'm so close with. It transcends everything.”

Faith has spent a number of years working in the Sudan. Bobby was drawn to Africa as well, and the siblings shared a house, and a home base, in Nairobi, Kenya. Now that Bobby has returned to Cody, Faith will divide her time between Wyoming and Kenya.

“I wanted to be part of Bobby's recovery,” she said, “but I'm transitioning out of that phase of my life. I'm kind of basing out of Cody, but we still have our house in Kenya, and I'll be spending more time there.”

As could be expected, almost losing her brother has transformed Faith's life.

“Bobby's strength, tenacity, will, love — all those things that have brought him through this, they've inspired me,” said Faith. “They've made me learn things.”

Along the way, Faith and some friends were inspired to start a new project. Their group, InFocus: Re-Imagining the World, will produce short, documentary films highlighting “positive forces of change in regions hammered by conflict, poverty, oppression or disaster.”

According to Faith, “It came about as part of our experience with Bobby. We still want to be involved in our part of the world (Africa), we don't want to give up.

“So we asked ourselves, ‘What do we want to do? What inspires us? What did we learn this year, in the midst of all this tragedy and conflict? That there are all sorts of really positive things going on.'”

In many ways, this group's mission mirrors what Faith sees in Bobby's recovery.

“There's so much potential for Bobby ... He's paving his own way in this ... In a way, it's a great lesson for us. You learn to accept a path and just go with it,” she said. “Bobby is going to amaze everyone. I feel this is still just the beginning.”