A Massillon native and collegiate wrestler who was born without legs made his appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” on Wednesday afternoon to tell his inspirational story, according to a report from News 5 media partners at Times Reporter.
Zion Clark, a Washington High School graduate and current wrestler at Kent State University at Tuscarawas, found fame for his perseverance to succeed as a wrestler despite being born with no legs.
Clark was born with a rare condition called caudal regression syndrome, the report said. Caudal regression syndrome is a congenital disorder that causes abnormal fetal development of the lower spine.
DeGeneres invited Clark and his mother Kimberlli Hawkins to be guests on her show. During the interview, Clark spoke about his tough childhood and his goals and ambitions, according to the report.
While speaking with DeGeneres, Clark mentioned his dream for his mother was to “get her a big house, get her a new car, just set her up for life and just give back what she gave to me.” Since Clark is a college athlete at KSU Tuscarawas, DeGeneres was legally unable to give him a gift, but that didn’t stop her from giving in some way.
DeGeneres gifted Hawkins with a 2019 Chevy Traverse to help make one of Clark’s dreams for his mother come true, the report said.
This isn’t the first time Clark has had his story shared on television. Netflix released a short film called “Zion” about Clark’s athletic journey.
Clark finished his senior year at Massillon in 2016 with a 33-15 record.
