Fran Crocco (left) and Jared Crocco (far right).
The Unexpected Beginning
Jared was diagnosed at age 14—not through a routine doctor’s visit, but because he wasn’t feeling well.
He had always been a picky eater, but we noticed he’d started to become insatiably thirsty. We had no idea where this would lead. An interesting side note: my dad has type 2 diabetes, and Jared was watching him test his blood sugar—a finger prick, test strip, and all. My dad, with his big Italian accent, jokingly asked, “Do you want me to test you?” Can you imagine if he had? A little foreshadowing…
What a daunting day…Jared rarely complains, so when he wasn’t feeling well, we took it seriously.
Finding Our Village
Hearing your child receive a diagnosis is overwhelming. Learning it’s a life-threatening, chronic condition is unimaginable.
The doctors and the LIJ diabetic team were amazing. They let us to stay overnight with Jared as we learned how to navigate what would become his new way of living. This is where I would emphasize that Peggy, our Diabetic Educator, along with the diabetic team, including the Melville Outreach Team, and our dear friend and former Senior Community Engagement Manager, Betsy Paffman were life savers.
Peggy helped Jared feel strong and reminded us we weren’t alone. It made us feel relieved to know that we had a village behind us. At the time, we had no idea just how much the JDRF (now Breakthrough T1D) community would come to mean to us.
It was overwhelming for us to embrace the pen needles, insulin doses, carb counting, finger pricks, and eventually the Omnipod, Dexcom, insurance issues, and medical supplies—all now a part of Jared’s daily life. But Peggy’s guidance gave us the confidence that we could handle this. More importantly, she made Jared feel like he could handle it.
Our First Walk
The next day, as they prepared to discharge Jared, Peggy handed him a Rufus the Bear and a Bag of Hope, which by the way, I still have 🙂
Then she mentioned the Walk.
Jared’s eyes lit up. He turned to me and asked, “Can we do the Walk?” I asked Peggy when it was, and she said it was in three days. Without hesitation, I said, “Why not?” And just like that, our Walk journey began.
Our first Walk consisted of 12 people. We had no idea what to expect. But when we arrived and saw the sea of children, parents, grandparents, friends, and volunteers, we were amazed and comforted. We were hooked. The Walk became our way of reclaiming a piece of control in Jared’s diagnosis.
It’s never easy to hear that your child’s life will be forever changed by a medical diagnosis—let alone a life threatening one. The idea of your child needing medical supplies to survive is something no parent ever imagines. Meeting Betsy and the T1D community made it a bit easier to understand and helped us see that we weren’t alone.
It certainly does take a village, and the T1D community is an amazing one filled with love, hope and unwavering support.
Each year, the Walk gives us the opportunity to reconnect with family, friends, and the T1D community. We’re now in our 15th year walking for Breakthrough T1D! Our favorite part? Reuniting with old friends and walking together, rain or shine, for a cure.
Jared is now a responsible, hardworking, kind, and considerate young man. He is now married and works in the hospitality industry. T1D is part of Jared, but it doesn’t define him.
Our Message to You
Our message is simple, YOU GOT THIS!
And our hope—with our collective prayers, strength and love—is that one day, T1D will just be a memory, no longer a lingering challenge.
