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Jack Mackenroth
USINFO | 2013-05-23 13:50
Jack Mackenroth (born April 29, 1969) is an American swimmer, model, and fashion designer who competed in the fourth season of American reality show Project Runway. Mackenroth was the first openly HIV-positive contestant in the show's history.Mackenroth was pre-med at the University of California, Berkeley for the first two years, following in the footsteps of his mom who was a nurse at Seattle's Harborview Medical Center, but later graduated with a double degree in Fine Arts and Sociology after he figured he could actually make a living in the fashion industry.At the fifth challenge, Mackenroth decided to withdraw after a contagious staph infection. After weighing the options and considering the risks that the infection would pose on himself as well as the rest of the cast and crew, he decided it would be best for everyone if he left.
Even so, it was a very difficult decision to make. "I was crying for about four hours as I discussed it with Tim and production. It sucked!"After leaving the show, Mackenroth spent five days in the hospital recovering from the infectionwhere he received an IV antibiotic twice dailyTo keep the same level of competition, he was replaced on the show with Chris March, the last designer eliminated. While there was talk of Mackenroth returning for season 5, he opted to focus on his career instead of making a second appearance on reality television.On October 15, 2008, Mackenroth unveiled a custom-designed wedding gown crafted entirely of condoms as a visual reminder of the importance of safer sex and correct, consistent condom use for San Francisco's Project Inform. The project was especially challenging because Mackenroth is allergic to latex.
