Francesco Clark is featured in the upcoming PBS series, This Emotional Life. He was on the verge of starting his dream career in the fashion magazine industry when he was in a diving accident that left him with a severe and crippling spinal cord injury. Unable to use his arms or legs, doctors told him he would never breathe on his own or feel his body again. After intense physical therapy he started to breathe unassisted. He still does five hours of physical therapy a day and can now use his arms, and has feeling in his torso and legs. He recently underwent a stem cell treatment in Germany.

After the inability to sweat left his skin pale and unattractive and after expensive creams didn’t work, he consulted with his physician father about formulas that would help clear up the blemishes. Out of this grew a successful business and skincare line – Clark’s Botanicals.

In addition to running this successful business, Francesco recently finished his first book, Walking Papers, to be released June, 1, 2010. He feels as happy with his life as he did before his accident and says he can run circles around his old self. He attributes his recovery to his own sense of determination and the love and support of his family and friends.

Francesco is a National Ambassador for the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, which is dedicated to curing spinal cord injury and improving the quality of life for people living with paralysis.

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