Debbie Clark spent her last moments held in her son’s arms inside her apartment. The 61-year-old former television athlete died Monday while her family waited for paramedics to pull up outside. Her son Crayton, who moved into the same building to watch over her, said her pacemaker suddenly stopped working. Responders tried to bring her back when they arrived, but she was already gone.
Crayton said his mother had been dealing with quiet heart problems for a long time. She kept those medical struggles to herself because she wanted people to remember her as a fighter. Crayton lost his main support system in a single afternoon. He set up an online GoFundMe page to help pay for her funeral services and carry her ashes to rest next to her mother.
Back in 1991, Clark stepped onto the set of American Gladiators when another competitor named Gold got hurt. Producers gave her the ring name Storm after telling her she had completely blown them all away during tryouts. She turned into a fan favorite almost overnight. Viewers tuned in every week to watch her throw down in heavy physical events like Joust and Powerball.
Long before she put on the spandex for TV, Clark was already a standout athlete. She grew up playing basketball, track, and soccer, beating out competitors across every sport she tried. She also held a killer singing voice. During one live Gladiator broadcast, she stepped up to the microphone and belted out the national anthem in front of the whole arena crowd.
Her run on the show ended abruptly after three years. Clark suffered a severe ACL tear during competition in 1993 that took her off the floor for good. Without the athletic arena, her life took a heavy hit. The knee injury made it hard to work, and she fell into tough times away from the spotlight.
A few years after leaving television, Clark hit rock bottom and faced homelessness on the West Coast. She spent nearly three years living on the streets of San Diego with her son. TV host Sherri Shepherd heard about her story in 2011 and stepped in, paying six months of her rent to get them off the streets and into a home.
Clark spent her later years back in the Boston area surrounded by her loved ones. Her brother Steven confirmed the family was right beside her when her heart gave out. Fans across the country still remember her as one of the toughest competitors from the early nineties television era. She leaves behind her son Crayton, who called her his hero and his entire world.
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