Much has changed for Daniel Clark in the year since he ended a shootout outside the Bojangles’ restaurant on Peters Creek Parkway by killing Monte Denard Evans.
Clark has changed jobs within the Winston-Salem Police Department, become a father for the first time and received national recognition for his response to the shooting that killed Sgt. Mickey Hutchens.
And he has recovered from the gunshot wound that barely missed his carotid artery.
“I thank God for my survival, and I thank Mickey for his sacrifice, because I know without Mickey I wouldn’t be here,” Clark said yesterday.
Clark said he is putting together a presentation for the police department’s current rookie class about the shootings and the aftermath.
“I want to prepare them so that if they are in a similar situation, they can fight through it, and to never give up,” Clark said. “And to take strength seriously; it could save their life.”
In the police department, Clark is now a burglary detective; a job that he said takes him off the streets more than he was when he was working as an officer on the morning of the shootout.
On April 23, Clark became a father for the first time with the birth of his daughter, Sophia Grace.
“She wakes up every morning with a bright smile on her face,” he said. “It’s a great way to start the morning.”
Clark also is working on an associate’s degree at Forsyth Technical Community College, which he had started before the shooting.
Clark said the shooting ordeal has given him some perspective about the fragility of life.
“I don’t take life for granted by no means,” he said. “I know life is precious and can be taken away from you in a moment.”
As for the wound he received — his bullet-proof vest stopped one shot but another entered his right ear and went into his skull — Clark said he had some dizziness in the weeks after the shooting but not anymore.
The other side of the healing was emotional. Part of that came through the help and support of Hutchens’ widow, Beth, who Clark described as an “incredibly strong woman.”
It was she who circulated an e-mail urging support for Clark in the TV show America’s Most Wanted’s All-Star 2010 contest. He won the national contest, which recognizes first-responders who go above the call of duty.
“More than anything, it showed me how much support I had in the community,” Clark said.
pgarber@wsjournal.com
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