Paralyzed football player can't pay medical bills
VIDEO - Rocky Clark was enrolled in a five million dollar catastrophic coverage plan, which his family expected to last his whole life.
No one expected Rocky Clark to survive as long as he has. More than ten years ago Clark was paralyzed playing football at Eisenhower High School in South Suburban Blue Island. Now, his insurance has run out.
After the injury that paralyzed him from the neck down, through the school district, Clark was enrolled in a five million dollar catastrophic coverage plan, which his family expected to last his whole life. But his medical expenses over the last decade have been so high that money’s all run out.
He received a letter saying no further benefits are available. Benefits Clark’s relied on to cover expensive medical supplies, 24-hour nurses, and medicine: His breathing meds alone run more than a thousand dollars a month. They’ve been paying for that out of their own pockets since they got the bad news.
Clark does have Medicaid coverage, but that doesn’t cover nursing. His mother’s had to give up her own life to provide him with round-the-clock care. She sleeps in the living room so she can hear her son.
The injury happened when Clark was 16 and played running back for Eisenhower high school. The family’s wish is for the school district to re-instate his old coverage.
District 218 superintendent John Byrne say’s he’s tried repeatedly to get Clark re-enrolled.
“We’ve asked. We’ve asked our current carrier. They denied us,” he said.
Clark wants his situation to serve as a lesson, not just for parents of high schoolers but also to highlight the need for universal health care.
