Patient Stories: Diane Clark starts a Cumberland Support Group!

We are incredibly happy to let our Western Maryland community know there is now a support group for those living with limb loss or limb difference! The group also welcomes their families, friends, and caregivers.  This group was organized locally by long time amputee Diane Clark, who many of you know.  Diane has contributed to our patient stories several times. She also recently appeared on WCBC 107.1 Radio with our Cumberland clinician Mark Treasure, CP, BOCO.

While there are other support groups in other parts of the state, Western Maryland has been without. Diane has worked really hard to get this group going and she would like to see you all at the next meeting. This new group (which is going to need a name!) meets on the last Friday of each month at 6:00 pm at the Allegany College of Maryland in the Allied Health Building in room 237 (which is on the upper level). We appreciate that ACM has provided this space for the meeting. NOTE: There will NOT be a meeting in November. The next meeting will be 12/26/2019.

The group is new and needs to grow, so Diane asks for anyone with limb loss or limb difference in the area to please come and show your support of each other. Dankmeyer is not affiliated with this group, only to show our support and help Diane get the word out! So, if you know of anyone who would like to come, please spread the word and bring them along.

For a list of all support groups in the Maryland area, you can visit our Support Group page by clicking here.

Patient Stories: Diane Clark, Radio Personality!

Our Western Maryland office in Lavale now has a new radio personality in patient Diane Clark. Diane wrote one of our earliest patient stories (click here to read that story) and was recently joined by clinician Mark Treasure, CP, BOCO for a radio interview on WCBC 107.1, when they “appeared” in an early morning interview with host Dave Norman.

Dankmeyer’s Diane shares her name with the radio station’s meteorologist Diane Clark and they have a chuckle about that to start. During the interview, Dave reveals that he is familiar with Dankmeyer, having come to the office as a young athlete for an orthosis in the early Eighties, which he still has and uses! They discuss the improvements in orthotic and prosthetic fabrication that technology has provided. Diane’s first prosthesis in 1991 was constructed in a very different manner from her current prosthesis. Her prosthesis today is lighter and more durable than her earliest prostheses, of which she has had seven over her 28 years as a Dankmeyer patient. This is a good thing because Diane is very active. She says , “I’m very rough on my leg!”. She had one prosthesis so well fabricated that it made it through a motorcycle accident. Rough indeed!

Diane talks about the emotional process she went through when her leg was amputated as a young mother of two (as a result of a snowy day car accident). She strives to be supportive for other amputees with her positive attitude and active lifestyle.

Originally scheduled to last for three minutes, the three chatted for ten minutes. Diane and Mark certainly sound like naturals. You can listen to the interview by clicking here.

Patient Stories: Diane Clark

“There are no limitations to what I can do!” a very confident Diane Clark states.  And she means it.  This 50 year old mother of 3 grown children and 8 grandchildren is very active in both her work and her home life.  Diane has been a Dankmeyer patient in our Cumberland office since 1993, when an accident resulted in a leg amputation.  There was a car crash on icy roads, and when she stepped out of the car, she was struck by another driver.  She says when she woke up and saw the faces of loved ones around her, she decided then to “be tough and not let it get me down.”  And she hasn’t let it get her down.

Originally from Oakland, MD, Diane lived in Mt. Storm, West Virginia where she attended high school.  After she met husband Frank, “the best thing that ever happened to me”, she moved to Cumberland. She worked for a while as a feeding assistant for Frostburg Nursing Rehab Center.  Eventually she changed positions to become an activities assistant there, where she has found her calling. “I love working with the elderly, lifting their spirits.”  She brings in entertainment for the residents, including Dankmeyer prosthetist Mark Treasure and his wife, to perform for the group.  She also dances with them, and literally clowns around.  See the gallery of pictures included for Diane in clown clothes!

In her time outside of work, Diane is involved in a number of activities.  She and her husband own a karaoke business. She goes to the gym three to four days a week where she jogs and works with a trainer on a variety of equipment.  Then there is the line dancing, where she scoots around the dance floor in her Harley boots, and she is a member of the Eagle Riders motorcycle social club.  There is the swimming and the zip line in Hawaii.  Yes, a zip line.  See the pictures below!

Yes, there is no disability for Diane, who says an artificial leg “doesn’t stop me from doing what I want to do.”  Whether that is dance, workout at the gym, ride the motorcycle, go to work or play with her grandchildren and pets, Diane is an inspiration to everyone she meets.