35 Faces of the Breakthrough T1D One Walk: Meet Sam
in Fundraising
35 Faces, 35 years of Walking, 35 Reasons to Give
My name is Will, and I was diagnosed with T1D in February 2015. This year is my second year walking, and my team is combining forces with Woodward Academy! My favorite memory from last year’s walk was walking through the streets of downtown Atlanta early in the morning with my parents, my brother, my grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and friends along with thousands of other Breakthrough T1D supporters – its an amazing atmosphere. After the Walk, we headed to my dad’s restaurant, The Original El Taco in Virginia Highlands, for lunch. I want people to know that I’m not a “diabetic.” I have type 1 diabetes, and nothing I ate or did or did not do caused it. I wish more people understood that there is currently no cure, and a pump is not a cure – it is a tool to manage Type 1 diabetes. Turning Type 1 into Type NONE would mean my parents and family wouldn’t worry about me all the time and that I could live a normal life without constant blood sugar checks, insulin injections and low and high blood sugar corrections and counting carbs at every meal every day.
No one in my family knew what T1DÂ was before I was diagnosed, it was a steep learning curve. But my parents and family spread the word and daily educate people about T1D – hoping they in-turn will do the same. The amount of misinformation about the disease is frustrating – especially the confusion with Type 2. Both of my parents share with people the incredible research work like encapsulation, beta cell regeneration and smart insulin that Breakthrough T1D is funding around the world and how the money we raise supports this research – Breakthrough T1D gives me and my family hope for a future without T1D and the Breakthrough T1D One Walk gives us a fun way to support that mission
Please consider supporting Sam’s fundraising efforts by donating to his Breakthrough T1D One Walk team here.
