Ryan Clark said his wife, Yonka, supported him through a 2007 medical crisis and that he would not be alive without her. A spleen complication linked to his sickle cell trait and aggravated by Denver’s altitude led to surgery removing his spleen and gallbladder.
Clark said his fever rose above 103 every night for about a month. He recalled that Yonka drove him to work while the Steelers told him he should be able to play, and that she slept on a hospital cot the night after surgery. He was barred from playing future games in Denver.
In 2012, Clark founded Ryan Clark’s Cure League to promote sickle cell awareness, support patient care and fund medical research to find a cure.
