Man dies on same track as son

Press, 5 January 1987, Page 1

Man dies on same track as son

Greymouth reporter An elderly Blackball man collapsed and died while walking on the Croesus track in the Paparoa range on Saturday afternoon. He was William Murdoch Clark, aged 79. Mr Clark’s son, Ces, a national rugby league selector, collapsed and died while working on the

track for the Forest Service last year. Mr Ces Clark had been instrumental in having a new hut built at the top of the track, which travels from Blackball across the range to Barrytown on the coast. The Prime Minister, Mr Lange, officially opened the Ces Clark hut late last year. On Saturday, Mr William Clark had walked

from Barrytown, with the intention of meeting relatives who were making the reverse journey from Blackball. He had walked about a mile when he collapsed and died. He was found by the relatives, and the police were called. A party carried Mr Clark’s body to the roadside to a waiting ambulance, and he. was pronounced dead qt the Grey

Hospital. An elderly woman fell and broke an ankle while walking the Point Elizabeth track between Cobden and Rapahoe on Saturday afternoon. Mrs Eileen Prendergast, of Kumara, was lifted out by helicopter to the Cobden end of the track where she was transferred to an ambulance and taken to the Grey Hospital.