By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – After suffering what could have been a life changing injury at the young age of three, former Wallace resident Rachel Clark is now on her way into a clinical research position at Morehouse College School of Medicine in Atlanta.

Clark, 22, a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Xavier University in New Orleans, will spend the summer researching cardiovascular health and the clinical presentation of congestive heart failure under the tutelage of Dr. Elizabeth Ofili, a renowned cardiologist at Morehouse.

Although she is well on her way to a bright and successful career as a physician, Clark often reflects on what could have been had she not made a remarkable recovery from a various serious injury she suffered during a trip to a shopping mall at such a young age.

“I was always an active child when I was younger and I had gotten away from the sight of the family as was with,” said Clark as she described the incident. “I was twirling a baton and I threw it in the air and it got stuck in a railing leaning against a wall. I pulled at the baton to get it loose and the railing came down on top of my head.”

Clark said she suffered a severe broken neck that morning. She was rushed to Terrebonne General Medical Center, where the prognosis was not good.

“I can remember my mother telling me that the doctors weren’t sure how well I would recover,” Clark said. “The told my family that I wasn’t going to walk again, that I would be paralyzed from the neck down, that I would have severe arthritis and that I would need the help of a breathing tube to survive.”

A few days after the accident, Clark said the outlook was not nearly as bleak as once thought, but she still faced a tough road ahead. The doctors installed a neck stabilizing halo that required a pair of holes to be drilled into both sides of her head. The halo helped her move around better and showed that she would be able to walk and move about, but the psychological scars of the accident were still very present.

“I can remember vivid dreams where I relate the accident to scenes from ‘The Wizard of Oz,’” Clark said. “I had a lot of nightmares where I thought things were falling on me like the house fell on the witch.”

Clark also believes things could have been worse for her if not for the help of a mysterious man who “came out of nowhere” to help lift the railing off her body.

“There was some person we never met before who came out of the crowd and lifted me out,” Clark said. “He held me, supported my neck and put me into my aunt’s arms. Before we could get his name, he was gone.”

Clark said all witnesses who saw the accident described the man in a different fashion and no one saw where he went after he left the scene.

“The only explanation I have ever had is that he is my guardian angel,” Clark said. “I’ll remember him as long as I live.”

After four months of wearing the halo, Clark was able to have it removed, but she still had to work through physical and speech therapy before getting back to her old self. She attended classes at West St. John Elementary then moved on to Garyville/Mt. Airy Magnet School, where she took special education classes.

“I can remember getting teased about it because we were pulled out of normal classes everyday,” Clark said. “After a while, I just had fun with it.”

Clark moved on the West St. John High School where she participated in cheerleading. She graduated there ranked fourth in her class.

Upon graduation, Clark was awarded a full tuition merit scholarship to Xavier.

After medical school at Morehouse, Clark said she intends to return to St. John to open a family medicine practice of her own.