When Sabrina Dake, BA ’06 (biology), and Ben Clark, BS ’05 (biology), embarked on a study abroad program to Ecuador, they had no idea the country would mean so much to them. Both interested in careers in health care, undergraduate research in the Ecuadorian rainforest was one of the first stops on their career journeys. The trip was also what brought the couple together.
Their shared love for the outdoors and helping others is what drew Dake and Clark to one another. Now, Dake, a nurse practitioner in the UO’s University Health Services, and Clark, a prosthetist, are living out their dreams of sharing outdoor adventures while serving the limb difference community.
Supporting mobility
Clark owns a prosthetics practice in Eugene and Portland, Eastside Orthopedics & Prosthetics, where he empowers patients with the tools and support they need to thrive. In the prosthetics field, treating patients is never a ‘one and done’ affair. Through the ups and downs, all the adjustments and reinforcements needed—Clark treats his patients through it all.
“They become almost like family. You become very, very close. When they're doing well, you're celebrating with them, and you're feeling the good energy. But when their prosthetics aren't working well, it also affects you in a very adverse way,” Clark said.
Clark holds a prosthetic leg in front of his work bench where he adjusts and assembles prosthetics for his patients. Photo by Sarah Bathke.
Aiding those in need of prosthetics extends beyond Clark’s day job; it has become a passion—for both him and Dake. For years, Eastside Orthopedics & Prosethetics has donated prosthetic feet and knees to the Range of Motion Project (ROMP), for use by individuals in Guatemala and Ecuador. When Clark got connected with an opportunity to volunteer with ROMP and support outdoor recreation for amputees, he and Dake jumped in.
“I met an adaptive athlete who had just climbed [Mount Cotopaxi] with the Range of Motion Project, and I was like, ‘hey, how do we get on the climb team?’” Clark said. “We wanted to take it to the next level of not just helping financially and with componentry, but physically actually showing up.”
After amputees are fitted for prosthetics, next comes the challenges of learning how to move with a new piece of equipment. ROMP provides opportunities and support for those seeking to reclaim outdoor recreation with their newfound mobility.
For Clark and Dake, a love for the outdoors is more than an activity; it’s a core family value. When they discovered the opportunity to pair outdoor recreation with their medical backgrounds in support of the limb difference community, they were all in.
In 2022, the couple joined ROMP for the ultimate expedition, climbing 19,347 feet to reach the top of Ecuador's Mount Cotopaxi and supporting ten fellow hikers with prosthetic limbs. Dake described the experience as “emotionally and physically the hardest thing I have ever done.”
Clark and Dake hiked through snow to reach the top of Mount Cotopaxi with the Range of Motion Project.
Clark recalls, “There was one adaptive climber who didn't realize they were falling behind on pace to make it to the summit of the mountain. As soon as they heard that they weren't going to make it, everyone kind of rallied and the energy just turned up.”
In addition to supporting amputees up international peaks, the couple is active in the limb difference community closer to home.
“We have done a bunch of little training hikes in Portland. We bring our kids . . . and it's just a really lovely community,” Dake said.
Two transfers turned to treatment
Before becoming a Duck, Dake was a tennis player at Southern Oregon University. She transferred to the UO to pursue history. Then, she took a science class and discovered her true passion. In addition to her studies, Dake pursued experiential learning opportunities.
“I shadowed physicians, I shadowed nurses, and then I shadowed a midwife I had known since I was a child. I loved her presence in the exam room, and I was like, ‘I think that’s what I want to do.’”
Little did Dake know, her future husband and fellow adventurer was on the same campus exploring a career in health care, too. Clark was a transfer student from Biola University, where he played soccer.
The two biology majors found their way to one other on a research trip to Ecuador, where they were often on the same team collecting specimens and data. Eight months after that trip, they started dating, and they’ve been together ever since.
Clark and Dake on a bench in the office of Eastside Orthopedics, throwing Os. Photo by Sarah Bathke.
After graduating from the UO, Clark was accepted to Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine for graduate school, and Dake to Columbia University’s School of Nursing. After four years, the couple returned to Oregon.
“We both were like ‘we’ve got to get back to Oregon to . . . raise a family. [Spending time outdoors] is a big part of our life. We hike on the Pacific Coast Trail, we hike the South Sister . . . [Outdoor recreation] was something that we knew we had to get back to,” Dake said
Today, Clark and Dake support their community in different, but parallel ways. Dake landed back at the University of Oregon, where she supports students’ reproductive health and well-being as a family nurse practitioner. Clark opened Eastside Orthopedics and Prosthetics in 2018.
“It's nice because we have similar relationships with our careers and our patients. We are trying to improve their lives and their outcomes . . . so whatever we bring home, we have each other to collaborate with [and] support each other knowing that we have a similar day-to-day when we're in our jobs,” Dake said.
They also still find time to go out into nature as a family, enjoying what brought them back to Oregon.
“We take [our kids] backpacking for a week in the summer, and that is typically one of their favorite experiences . . . We do a couple nights where we're all under the stars, and it's pretty magical,” Dake shared.
Clark and Dake stand in front of the sign for their Eugene-based office of Eastside Orthopedics & Prosthetics. Photo by Sarah Bathke.
From supporting their local community through health care to climbing international mountains with amputees, Dake and Clark have devoted themselves to serving others.
“I feel like I've won the lottery by falling into prosthetics because it's such a rewarding field. It's such an easy thing to like and love because you get to see such great outcomes,” Clark said.
—By Olivia Arciniega, class of 2026 (business administration), and Sarah Bathke, BS ’25 (journalism), UO Alumni Association communications generalist