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Francesco Clark is a skincare guru who grew up in Italy then moved to New York City in 6th grade. A fascinating man with quadriplegia, he is also the founder of Clark’s Botanicals, an award-winning skincare company with products that have been featured in Allure, In-Style, and The New York Times. Also a published author, Francesco Clark has been busy making the world beautiful since his injury. Read on for his story.
Why He’s Fearless
When Francesco broke his neck in a diving accident in 2002, he was a bright eyed 24 year old just starting out in the fashion world working as an editorial assistant for Harper’s Bazaar. After his near-death injury, which happened at a friend’s timeshare in Long Island (he mistakenly dove into the wrong end of the pool; the ladders were in the shallow end, causing him to misjudge), he was at first quite lost.
Francesco had become a C4 quad, and struggled to move anything from the shoulders down. How could life carry on? But coming from a family of doctors, he wasn’t about to accept that neurological recovery wasn’t possible.
He has undergone several experimental therapies since his injury, proving it is possible to get movement back using a combination of stem cells and vigorous physical therapy. His treatments include embryonic stem cell surgery in China, adult stem cell treatment in Germany and trans-cranial continual muscle stimulation (where parts of his brain were targeted with an electric current to stimulate specific nerves).
Francesco also did 5 hours of therapy each day. After all his hard work, he is now able to push himself in a manual wheelchair, type with his own hands and hold a glass of water. He can also feel his butt and has hot and cold sensation in his legs). But getting better hasn’t been his only goal post-injury. After Christopher Reeve died, Francesco thought, “What have I done to help this community?” and decided to become an advocate for people of spinal cord injuries.
Francesco contacted the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation and has been one of their ambassadors since 2004. He also founded a skincare company post-injury, Clark’s Botanicals, which was created out of Francesco not being able to sweat. Apart from being in a wheelchair, people with paralysis cannot sweat, and can have bad skin as a result. This held him back in the first few years following his injury. Both of his parents were doctors, with his dad being one of the first MD’s to combine homeopathic treatments with western medicine.
They worked together to find the perfect homeopathic blend for his skin. After trying 78 combinations, they discovered jasmine absolute was the magic ticket. That led to him creating his very first product – just for himself – but after showing it to his old magazine friends, they fell in love with it. He founded Clark’s Botanicals as a result. Nearly all of their products have the jasmine complex ingredient that makes their products so effective.
And Francesco has become a successful author. He published his memoir Walking Papers The Accident that Changed My Life, and the Business that Got Me Back on My Feet in 2010, 8 years after his injury.
What’s Next?
Making skin beautiful with a portion of each sale going to SCI research, Francesco has truly become the person Christopher Reeve inspired him to be. He is using his injury for the better and to help the world in some pretty amazing ways. On a personal note, when Francesco is not busy running his company, he enjoys his life with his husband and their twins (boy and girl!) in upstate New York.
— Follow Francesco on Instagram
ideas@spinalpedia.com
