NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — For Leigh and Randy Clark, May 14, 2025, is a night they will never forget.
"Our anniversary is May 11th. We knew there was a game coming up on the 14th, and we were kind of thinking that we didn't do anything for our anniversary; so I was like, 'Hey, let's go to the soccer game for our anniversary,'" recalled Leigh.
It was their 3rd game of the season and another chance for Leigh to see someone special.
"My favorite player is Shaffelburg. I love his hustle — so my husband got me this shirt for my birthday, and it's got Shaffelburg on the back," said Leigh.
The couple arrived early for the match against the New York Red Bulls.
"We were watching them warm up and stuff. And then, I started to feel just not right. That's what I kept telling him — 'I just don't feel right,'" said Leigh. "And I told him shortly thereafter, 'We need to go.'"
"When she said I need to go, that kind of scared me because she wouldn't have left unless she was not feeling good. When she said 'I need to go,' I knew something was wrong," said Randy.
"We walked up the steps to the concourse, and I started feeling dizzy," said Leigh.
"When she said she was a little dizzy, I thought, 'This isn't good,'" said Randy.
Vanderbilt LifeFlight Event Medicine Team member Neil Worf recounts reaching Leigh and assisting her during the incident.
"About halfway through the first half, her heart decided to not play well, and she wasn't feeling well. She couldn't really describe what was going on, but she knew she wasn't right," said Worf.
"I noticed that she was getting pretty white, losing a lot of color — so I grabbed security people and they quickly had the medical out," said Randy.
"I didn't know what was really going on, but she was having a really tough time. We quickly got to working on her and tried to decipher what's going on with her. Pretty quickly, it's evident that she's having a heart attack," recalled Worf.
Leigh was taken by ambulance from Geodis Park to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where Dr. Leah Raj and her team were waiting at the cardiac catheterization laboratory — i.e., "cath lab". Dr. Raj would re-open a blocked artery with a stent, but not before a discussion about the Scaffelburg jersey.
"So when they were prepping me to go to cath, one of the people was like 'Are we cutting?' And I was like, 'Oh, please no!' So, instead of cutting the shirt off, they gently got it off me and saved it for me," said Leigh.
Last week, Nashville SC invited the Clark family to return to Geodis Park for the match with Toronto FC. It gave Leigh a chance to thank some of the Vanderbilt LifeFlight Event Medicine Team.
"I've been able to do this emergency medicine, flight medicine thing for some 30 years. A lot of them stand out, but this is standing out pretty big because everything fell together nicely. Amazing outcome. Incredibly rewarding to see the system work. The team is an amazing group of individuals. It's a privilege," said Worf.
"I feel very lucky that I was at the soccer game when this happened 'cause if I had been at home, I would have laid down and who knows what would have happened. I just feel fortunate and blessed that I was here when it happened," said Leigh.
On Wednesday night, the grateful Nashville SC fan receives the new jersey from a certain someone — Nashville SC midfielder Jacob Shaffelburg.
"I've never heard of something like that before. I made sure to tell her that if that ever happens again, we'll get her a new shirt. It's unbelievable — very cool," said Shaffelburg.
Do you have a unique story to share about arts, entertainment, and sports? You can email me at Brian.McKeegan@newschannel5.com.
Music City is built on the talents of songwriters - and I can guarantee you've never seen a better collaboration than this! You'll be cheering and crying... and glad you took time to watch this story. Enjoy!
- Carrie Sharp
