About the portrait
Self-Titled
From Stroke to STEM
Photographer
Nick Lewis
About Clark
Clark Jacobs, a former Georgia Tech engineering student, sustained a traumatic brain injury after falling from his loft bed. The accident led to a skull fracture, brain bleed, and stroke, eventually bringing him to Shepherd Center for rehabilitation.
During his recovery, Clark participated in the Beyond Therapy® program, where he worked closely with physical therapist Nic Dietrich, whom he chose to be featured in his portrait. Although he hasn’t continued Beyond Therapy since 2016, his drive and determination, qualities he discovered during the program, have helped him return to and graduate from Georgia Tech.
Clark hopes his portrait shows someone who appears “normal,” so much so that you might be surprised to learn he had a serious brain injury. He admits that a single image can’t capture the immense effort it took to relearn basic life skills, but he wants people to understand how far he’s come.
To Clark, hope means having a realistic goal and the tools to get there. He finds hope in the ongoing progress he sees in himself, including a recent breakthrough where years of fatigue suddenly lifted. His message to others is simple but powerful: Never give up. Recovery is the hardest thing you’ll ever do, but it’s worth it.
In his portrait
Clark chose to be photographed with Nic Dietrich, a physical therapist in Shepherd’s Beyond Therapy program, who was a crucial part of Clark’s rehabilitation, which focused on regaining his ability to walk.
