My name is Kyle and I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes 19 years ago. I was 22 months old when it happened (I am 21 now) and I don’t remember a thing about that day. I grew up with diabetes so it was my life. I didn’t know any other ways to live; yet I still ran into complications. I have been hospitalized several times for both high and low blood sugars. I had trouble with playing sports and needing to come off the field because I was low. Many people think that being diagnosed that young is the worst thing ever, but I believe it can be much worse. The worst time possible is a young kid between 5 and 10 years old. These kids are in a rhythm through their life and it changes dramatically in an instant. They can no longer eat the stuff they want and now have a huge thing to worry about every second of the day. People hear how long I’ve been diagnosed and think I’ve had it so rough, but I think these kids are the true champions. What they go through is terrible and no kid should have to go through that. The advances in technology have been huge steps in controlling diabetes and I have used basically all of them. The only problem is that they just control it, and the real goal is to completely eliminate it. Even with these advances, people with type 1 diabetes still run into complications and no advancement will be perfect. Nobody should have to go through this and that is why we need to find a cure.

Please consider making a Fund A Cure donation in honor of Kyle and others living with T1D by clicking here.