<p>Dr. Jack Hughston, a pioneer in the development of sports medicine, died Monday after a three-year battle with cancer. He was 87.</p><p>Hughston began working with athletes at the high school level and became the team doctor at Auburn University.</p><p>He founded The Hughston Clinic, which treated average people as well as big-time sports figures, in 1949. The Hughston Sports Medicine Hospital opened 20 years ago, and the doctor also created the Hughston Sports Medicine Foundation, designed to provide and preserve advancements in the field.</p><p>He was mentor to Dr. James Andrews of Birmingham, Ala., who has treated scores of athletes including Michael Jordan, Troy Aikman and Roger Clemens. Andrews set up his Birmingham practice in 1986 after 13 years of practicing with Hughston.</p><p>Crippled children, rather than athletes, grabbed Hughston's heart when he first began practicing medicine. He had worked as an unpaid orderly at the former City Hospital in Columbus.</p><p>"I sort of gravitated toward orthopedics," he said in an interview 10 years ago. "It is so obvious. If you see something, you can do something about it. If you fix a man's broken leg, you can see him walking down the street. You have some idea about how he's doing."</p><p>A public memorial will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at St. Paul United Methodist Church. A reception at the Hughston Sports Medicine Foundation will follow the service.</p>
