10 Yrs. Later: Man Paralyzed in Police Shooting Talks Learning to Live Again

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NASSAU , BAHAMAS – Before the wheelchair, Thorne Clarke says he was always on the move.

Basketball, soccer, track and swimming were all part of his life.

He had attended St. Augustine’s College, earned a four-year scholarship to the University of The Bahamas and was studying accounting while working part-time at Nassau Tile Factory.

Thorne Clarke – Police Shooting Survivor

“I was a very active young man. I played a lot of sports, um, from basketball, soccer, track, swimming. You know, I dabbled in each of those, and I was an accounting major at UB. And like I said, I was, I was always active.”

That life changed on February 15, 2016.

Clarke was 22 when he was shot in the back by a police officer, leaving him paralysed from the sternum down.

According to court proceedings, that day, he was driving near Windsor Park when he encountered a traffic stop. A police officer told him to exit the vehicle. Clarke drove off when the unidentified officer refused to tell him the reason for the command.

The officer fired multiple shots into the back of Clarke’s car, and one of the bullets hit him in the back.

Clarke immediately lost feeling in his legs, lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a wall. The officers dragged him from the vehicle, handcuffed him and later learned that Clarke was not the man they were looking for.

But as he tells me, his road to recovery wasn’t easy.

During his three-month stay in hospital, doctors delivered the devastating news: he was permanently paralysed from the T7-T8 level down, with little prospect of ever walking again.

His mother eventually closed her daycare business to become his full-time caregiver.

His father, a retired Defence Force officer, continued working to help with his expenses.

And Clarke says, as the years passed, there were times he struggled.

Thorne Clarke – Police Shooting Survivor

“There are many days that I was, that was hopeless. You know, many days, um, many dark days, um, going through depression, especially in the early stages.”

As he pushed to recover, he would later sue the Commissioner of Police and the Attorney General in May 2018, and judgment in default of defence was entered against them in September 2019.

And this week, he was awarded over $800,000 in damages.

Thorne Clarke – Police Shooting Survivor

“Considering that I have a lot of medical bills ahead of me, a lot of assistive devices and equipment that I need to get, be whether it be wheelchairs, cushions, uh, an adaptive car, you know, renovations to my home.”

Still, he says his focus today isn’t only on what happened to him.

He now works with the National Commission for Persons With Disabilities, using his experience to push for a more accessible Bahamas.

Thorne Clarke – Police Shooting Survivor

“I’m trying to change the stigma or the perspective on disability in the country. Again, like I say, accessibility shouldn’t be a luxury. It should be something essential.”