College student who fell from loft bed relearns how to walk, talk before graduation

ATLANTA — Clark Jacobs was a 20-year-old college student with a 3.9 GPA when he fell out of his lofted bed at his fraternity house in 2015.

The Georgia Tech student was sleeping when he fell and didn’t initially know anything was seriously wrong, WSB-TV reported.

“We thought he had the flu or meningitis because he did not look like someone who had a brain injury at first. He was completely cognizant, conversational,” his father, Ron Jacobs, said at the time. “He just climbed back into bed while sleeping.”

Clark had fallen seven feet and hit a linoleum floor.

“We treated him (at home) for less than a day and decided to take him to the hospital because with stiff neck, we were afraid it might be meningitis,” said Mariellen Jacobs, his mother. “They did a CT scan and we realized he had fractured skull. He ended up having a fractured skull and a blood clot. Unfortunately, it led to a bleed in his brain and (doctors) had to do emergency surgery to save his life.” 

Clark suffered a stroke and spent a month recovering at a spinal center in Atlanta. He had to relearn how to walk, talk and eat, WSB-TV reported.

In honor of her son, Mariellen Jacobs started an initiative called Rail Against The Danger to raise awareness about the importance of bed rails.

In response to his accident, Clark’s fraternity installed guardrails on the beds.

And this week, five years later, 25-year-old Clark graduated with a degree from Georgia Tech in mechanical engineering.

He said his seven-year college career was worth it.

Cox Media Group