Jacob was diagnosed with Neurofibromatosis Type 1 as a baby. Having this disease has been difficult for him at times, but it also had made him who he is today. Jacob went through a number of clinical trails as a child to try to reduce the size of one of his tumors. He had to spend a lot of time at the National Institute of Health (NIH) where he had to get a variety of different tests done every 3 months for a few years to monitor the tumor growths. As he got older none of the clinical trails he had participated in worked, so now he just gets checked up on once or twice a year to make sure there has been no growth or any additional tumors that have shown up.

Jacob lives a pretty normal life where he lives with his girl friend and his dog. He works a 9-5 job and does photography on the side in hopes to pursue photography full time one day. Jacob deals with pain occasionally, but does not let it affect his day to day life. He has always lived by the motto’s “Survive and Advance” and “Built Different.” Jacob helps raise NF awareness around the Kansas City area by participating in the Shine a Light Walks with all the proceeds going to help the Children's Tumor Foundation.