Services set for Rocky Clark
BY SUSAN DEMAR LAFFERTY slafferty@southtownstar.com January 10, 2012 10:10AM
Rocky Clark, a former Eisenhower High School football player who was paralyzed from the neck down when he was tackled during a game in 2000, died at a suburban Chicago hospital on Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File)
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Updated: January 10, 2012 10:12AM
Hundreds of friends, family and supporters who followed the story of Rasul “Rocky” Clark after he was paralyzed from the neck down during a high school football game are expected to turn out for the Robbins man’s services Friday and Saturday. Visitation for Clark is scheduled from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday at A R Leak & Sons Funeral Home, 18400 S. Pulaski Road in Country Club Hills, and from 9 to 10 a.m. Saturday at New Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, 3620 W. 139th St. in Robbins, before a service. Burial will be at Burr Oak Cemetery, 4400 W. 127th St., near Alsip. After suffering a spinal cord injury during a football game in September 2000 while playing for Eisenhower High School, Clark lived the last 11 years of his life as a quadriplegic. But he was known for being positive and trying to help others in similar situations. Clark died Thursday at age 27. A family said complications related to his lungs and kidneys was the cause of death. Clark’s medical insurance ran out in August 2010, and fund-raisers have helped pay for his medical and living expenses since. Clark’s pastor, the Rev. Anthony Williams, is urging support for Illinois House Bill 603, which would require a lifetime of insurance benefits for high school athletes who suffer catastrophic injuries while participating in school-related activities.
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