Turning Type 1 into Type None

By Kayla Dimick
C & G Staff Writer

SOUTHFIELD — On Sept. 28, more than 7,000 people will crowd the streets of Ann Arbor and Warren, all with one main goal: to stop Type 1 diabetes in its tracks.

The One Walk, which is organized by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, will raise money to fund research and better treatment for Type 1 diabetes.

Breakthrough T1D is made up of eight different sites throughout the state of Michigan. Its metro Detroit chapter is located on Northwestern Highway in Southfield.

Type 1 diabetes, sometimes referred to as T1D and previously known as juvenile diabetes, is usually diagnosed in children and young adults. In T1D, the body does not produce insulin, which is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into energy.

“It’s really different from Type 2, which gets a lot of attention,” said Breakthrough T1D Executive Director Kate Durak. “It’s an autoimmune disease, not associated with diet or exercise. Your immune system gets compromised.”

Many people are able to manage the disease, but they must take insulin to regulate the levels in their body.

Berkadia, a commercial mortgage company in Southfield, has already raised $10,000 by matching its employees’ donations for the One Walk.

Colin Callaghan, senior vice president of Berkadia, said the event hit close to home for him, as his wife has T1D.

“It’s an epidemic,” Callaghan said. “People can deal with it and people can manage it, but it doesn’t get the attention it deserves. It’s something that dramatically impacts the quality of their life.”

Terry Conley, partner at Grant Thornton, a tax advisory firm, said his organization has helped raise $15,000 in anticipation of the One Walk.

T1D is also close to Conley’s heart because his daughter has the disease.

Initially, Conley said, he wanted nothing to do with the One Walk.

“I realized I couldn’t do anything about it, and I went into denial,” Conley said.

After his daughter and wife started going to the One Walk every year, Conley said he started to accept his daughter’s diagnosis.

“I realized that just pretending my daughter didn’t have the disease didn’t do me any good, so I got active,” Conley said.

He and his wife now sit on the Breakthrough T1D board, and his daughter is a children’s advocate for the organization.

Durak said that, hopefully, the One Walk will ultimately help to end T1D.

“It’s just a really terrible disease, and it’s a silent one. You look at people, and they don’t look sick, but they are,” Conley said.

Presenting sponsor of the One Walk is Absopure. Other sponsors include Ford, Team Schostak (Applebee’s, Burger King, Del Taco) and Comerica Bank.

Read the article at C&G’s website.