Ryan Stryker didn’t know it at the time, but he was the inspiration for an event that has raised nearly $1 million for juvenile diabetes research.
Ryan, 13, was born with the disease, and his mother Alicia was one of the founders of the annual Walk to Cure Diabetes.
Ryan and his mother were among more than 500 people who gathered on the Elmira College campus Sunday morning for the 11th annual walk.
“It’s nice to have people care about the disease. People are walking to do stuff,” Ryan said. “(Juvenile diabetes) can be a pain sometimes. You can’t eat what you want to.”
Money raised through Sunday’s walk will go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Rochester chapter.
Last year’s walk raised $129,000.
“Our goal this year is $140,000,” said Alicia Stryker, of Horseheads, who founded the walk along with local real estate agent Hank Kimball.
“Both of our kids were diagnosed within a few months of each other,” Stryker said. “Mine was 2 and his was 3. We decided to jump in and do something about it.”
The event was first held at the Arnot Mall, but Elmira College was gracious enough to offer its campus for the walk, Stryker said.
Participants often form teams, and some of those teams have come back year after year to support the event.
“One of my softball players at Edison High School, Chelsea Storch, is diabetic. So family and friends are here to support her,” said Becky Cooper of Elmira, head softball coach at Edison. “Chelsea has been with me for three years, so as a team, we come every year.”
Storch, meanwhile, is amazed at the number of people who turn out for the walk.
“It’s incredible,” said Storch, 16. “It’s a really good feeling to see how many people care.”
» Information: www.jdrf.org.
