Spur football coach Tate Clark has been sidelined most of this season with health issues, and schools, students, families and communities across West Texas are rallying to support him however they can.
The Texas Spur caught up with Clark by phone earlier this week, and he spoke with us from Dallas Methodist Hospital.
“It’s been amazing all of the outpouring of support I’ve received,” he said. “I am just a coach and a teacher at a little school, and I have been so moved to get that kind of support I have gotten.”
To date, seven schools— in addition to Spur—are planning fundraisers for Clark to help him with costs related to his medical and hospitalization expenses, a process that has been going on since June.
Clark shared with the Spur what has happened with his health.
“I had pains hit in early late may early June and went to ER and it was my gallbladder. We had planned to have it removed. Once it was removed they put a JP drain in because of infection in the gallbladder location. They noticed what looked like a stone stuck in the bile duct while taking gallbladder out so they scheduled an ERCP to go remove the stone.
“This caused Acute Pancreatitis which set me 11 days in covenant in Lubbock,” he continued. “I felt ok the first few days out of hospital and though i was on the mend but then couldn’t keep food down so iwassentbacktoCovenant. When they released me this time i felt better than I have in a while for about 3 weeks until I couldn’t keep food down again. This time I was shipped to Dallas Methodist. They went in when I got here and did a major surgery to clean the psuedocyst that formed and all the bad junk that had collected in stomach and around pancreas.
“At the moment I have started week 3 at Dallas Methodist. I just had one drain tube removed today from my stomach. I still have a feeding tube and 3 other drain tubes inserted into my abdomen. They say things are going great and things are going as planned, but it is just a long process of healing.”
Clark said that it may be another month or so before he can come home to Spur. Upon his release from Dallas Methodist, he has been told he will be going into a rehabilitation facility to help his body adjust to eating and digestion again.
In the meantime, Spur superintendent Craig Hamilton has been filling in as coach for the Bulldogs football team and they are 2-0, undefeated in the start of their season.
Clark relished the opportunity to talk about football, instead of his health, “It’s great. I’m loving how they’re doing this year. I text them every week before the game. I told them before I got sick that this could be their year. And this year, they have come out and competed. It is so great that they beat a powerhouse like Ira,” he said, referring to last week’s win over a heavilty favored team that nonetheless organized a fundraiser to help the opposing coach.
Traveling back and forth between Spur and Dallas and having extensive medical stays have resulted in a lot of expense for Clark, so a friend from Abilene has already started a GoFundMe account for him.
Timeless Trends Boutique of Lubbock, owned by a Spur alum who was one of Clark’s students, has also started a Coach Clark T-shirt fundraiser. This fundraiser can be found on the Timeless Trends Boutique
According to Brandee Hamilton, Spur school instructor, “Seven families are planning a benefit meal, a spaghetti supper, and we’ll let you know when the date is finalized. It will probably be at the school cafeteria.”
Hamilton said that volunteers are also gathering raffle items to be auctioned off as well.
This week schools across West Texas are doing a “Hats for Coach Clark,” where students can wear their hat by paying a $1 and all proceeds go to the coach.
According to Spur secondary principal Tanya Phillips, participating schools include Spur, Patton Springs, Paducah, Valley, Guthrie, Kress, Ira and Smyer. Texas 1A Fan and Pete Christy from KCBD/ Lubbock have been promoting the fundraisers for Clark as well.
If you’d like to contribute to the GoFundMe account, it’s here online:
Principal Phillips summed up the Spur schools’ feelings about Clark, “He’s well loved and connected in this area, and we just want him to get better.”
