Thirteen-year-old Savannah Wright and a group of her closest friends sported neon-green T-shirts early Saturday and wrote on their arms in purple marker, “June, 26, 2010” – the day Savannah was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
Wright, along with more than an estimated 7,000 others, gathered at Carowinds to help raise money for the 22nd annual Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk to Cure Diabetes.
Participants started the approximately three-mile course on a bridge in the center of the theme park with a view of brightly colored balloons and several of the park’s roller coasters.
“Having Type 1 diabetes is very difficult, but you have to accept it and move on,” said Savannah, a student at Saluda Trail Middle in Rock Hill. “It has made me a stronger person.”
The goal for the walk is to raise $1.2 million for research aimed at curing, better treating and preventing Type 1 diabetes, said Laura Maciag, executive director of JDRF Charlotte. Corporate walk teams, school teams and family walk teams participated in the event.
Since its founding in 1970, JDRF has contributed more than $1.6 billion nationally to diabetes research.
Last year, severe weather forced walk organizers to cancel the local event, but Maciag said the cancellation only caused a $15,000 shortfall in fundraising efforts. “It’s a testament to our schools, corporations and families that help raise money,” she said.
Mark Billings, president and CEO of Presbyterian Hospital, served as this year’s walk chairman. Billings and Mark Copeland, JDRF Charlotte board president, helped cut the ribbon to start the event.
“With walks like this, we are a dollar closer to finding a cure,” Copeland said.
Copeland said he can relate to those living with Type 1 diabetes. He was diagnosed with the inflammatory autoimmune disease at age 10.
“It certainly is close to my family,” Copeland said. “But you have to stay positive and build communities.”
Type 1 diabetes, formerly known as “juvenile” or “juvenile onset” diabetes, is often first diagnosed in children, teens or young adults. But people may develop Type 1 diabetes at any age, according to JDRF. One in 400 to 500 people in the general population develops Type 1 diabetes, according to the JDRF website.
Hannah Costner, 19, from Rock Hill said being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 10 was scary.
“I was overwhelmed and I didn’t know what to do,” she said.
She recalls having to inject herself with about five insulin shots a day and having to prick her fingers or arms for blood samples about 12 times a day. Today, she uses a continuous glucose monitoring device, but she still bares purple, circular marks on her forearms as a result of taking samples.
Every year since she was diagnosed, Costner has participated in the JDRF Walk alongside her family and friends. Now a freshman at Anderson University, Costner said she has joined groups at school centered around Type 1 diabetes for support. She also receives a call or text from her mom each day to remind her to check her blood sugar.
“It’s very welcoming (at the walk) and I’m not the only person with Type 1 diabetes,” Costner said. “We’re all out here fighting for the same cause.”
