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s soon as the fog of anesthesia lifted, Brendan Clark was ready to think big.
Clark’s parents are both physical therapists, so the conversation in his hospital room following Feb. 14 brain surgery turned quickly to recovery goals. They urged him to focus on simple milestones that would help him regain his strength and stamina slowly but surely. Just getting out of bed seemed like a good start.
“Nah,” Clark told them. “I want to play in the Hill game.”
Clark ultimately missed the opener of his senior lacrosse season at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy in Philadelphia, but not by much. The attackman was on the sideline when the Blue Devils started the spring March 13 with a loss to the Canadian powerhouse Hill Academy and back in action by March 30.
Clark’s debut came about six weeks after surgery to remove a brain tumor and three weeks after a setback sent him under knife again. The Wagner recruit celebrated his return with a goal in a 15-3 win over Archbishop Curley (Md.).
He’s got a titanium plate in his skull and scars zig-zagging the back of his head, but he’s fully cleared to play without any restrictions. He credits the support of his teammates and the power of positive thoughts for his remarkable rebound.
“It’s made me appreciate how quickly this all can be taken,” Clark said, “and just how blessed I am to be able to play this sport.”
Clark has been a key part of Springside Chestnut Hill’s offense since his freshman season. He isn’t exactly physically imposing at 5-foot-10, 150 pounds, but he’s always had a reliable stick and been willing to do the dirty work around the goal. He’s helped the Blue Devils become more competitive in the tough Inter-Ac League.
Clark was already counting down the days to the official start of his final go-round when the trouble began in January. His doctor initially shrugged off the severe migraines and vomiting as a virus. He sought a second opinion once the illness dragged on for weeks.
When an MRI revealed the tumor, Clark was quickly shuttled into intensive care where he spent about two weeks waiting for surgery.
Almost immediately, Springside Chestnut Hill pulled together. Clark’s teammates made sure there was a steady stream of visitors by his bedside and started wearing bracelets emblazoned “#2strong,” a nod to his jersey number.
A GoFundMe page raised more than $38,000 to help with medical expenses. Donations rolled in from around the Inter-Ac and even a club team in Massachusetts.
“It was completely overwhelming, but that’s what the lacrosse community does,” Clark’s mother Andrea said. “It’s one huge family. It doesn’t really matter what team you play for in the end because we all support each other.”
Post-surgery, Clark vowed to attack his recovery with a smile. Why not shoot for the moon?
That spirit pushed Clark to a lacrosse field near his house just three days after leaving the hospital. He tossed passes with his mother and ripped shots that weren’t too far from full speed.
“I told myself there’s two ways to look at this: I could look at this in a horrible way and make everyone else around me miserable or I can look at this in another way,” Clark said. “I just said, ‘I’m going to get through this. I’m going to be good.’”
Then all of a sudden, Clark was sick again, even worse than before. At one point in the hospital, he struggled to walk or talk. He had a shunt surgically placed in his brain March 8 to relieve swelling.
Still, the day he was discharged, he headed to his school to cheer on the Blue Devils. He promised coach Mike Delgrande that he’d at least be back for the start of Inter-Ac play.
“I go, ‘I believe you, Brendan,’ but in the back of my mind, I wasn’t really sure knowing what he’d just gone through,” Delgrande said. “He was not going to let anything stop him. That was for sure.”
Clark was back to square one, disappointed but not deterred. He started slow with a few minutes on a stationary bike. The next week he was feeling up to try shooting drills at practice.
Within a few more days, Clark was texting his doctor and begging for permission to play in a game. He got clearance the night before the Blue Devils headed to Baltimore for their annual spring break trip.
Against Archbishop Curley, Clark was in uniform for the first time and soon on the field. He was huffing and puffing the whole way, but he didn’t care.
With a big lead in the second half, the Blue Devils turned their focus to getting Clark on the scoreboard. He missed his first few shots and forced Delgrande into a timeout to let him catch his breath.
Eventually, Clark figured it out. He made a cut to get space near the crease, took a pass from behind the net and rocketed one just under the crossbar. Now, he officially felt back.
“Words can’t describe how great that was,” Clark said.
At the beginning, his mother was anxious. She winced through every collision and wondered how he’d feel afterward. By the time he scored, she’d finally relaxed.
“It means everything,” Andrea Clark said. “All he wants to do is play lacrosse.”
Delgrande had never seen anything like it. An old-school coach through and through, he let his players mob Clark for as long as they wanted.
“I was tearing up,” Delgrande said. “I had to look away from the field because I don’t want my guys to see me doing that. I just could not have been happier for him.”
Now, Clark is settling back into a routine. He returned to school full-time earlier this month, and he was anxious to show Delgrande he was ready to take back his starting spot. So far, so good: He’s scored in five of six games he’s played. The Blue Devils have won all six after an 0-4 start.
Clark’s long-term outlook seems promising. He’ll have another MRI next month to check his progress. His doctor is optimistic radiation treatments can get rid of any tumor that’s left.
As usual, Clark is taking the optimistic approach.
“It’s made me even more eager to get to the college level,” Clark said. “I’m ready to get back in the gym and really, really grind.”