UT Arlington

Student Overcomes Significant Injury to Graduate

NBCUniversal, Inc.

Engineering student Jacob Reich is a problem solver, one of those people who loves to find a solution others overlooked.

It's a skill he definitely needed after a ride on his dirt jumper bike broke bones all over his upper body.

"I flipped over the bars and into this concrete embankment," said Reich.

"I broke this wrist, and the radial fracture in this wrist, a radial fracture in this wrist."

He went on and on, tiny bones shattered, and a long recovery process was one problem but Jacob had another, a dream job waiting for him in January.

"A manufacturing engineer at Lockheed Martin. I've interned a few years there and they offered me a full-time position in January," he said. 

With his injuries finishing school seemed like a pipe dream but the disability team at the University of Texas – Arlington stepped in helped Jacob and his professors work to iron out a solution. 

"I felt like it was too far gone but I had to make it happen with my job offer in January," he told us.

Reich worked from his hospital bed and squeaked out a finish that led to him crossing the stage, collecting his diploma

"That was a moment even before these injuries I looked forward to before the injuries,  it's unimaginable it's actually happened. It still hasn't sunken in yet," said Reich.

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