Six-year-old Kiah Halvorson rode her bike down the streets of
Lanesboro, Minn., in one of her favorite pink shirts, her blond
pigtails flying behind her.
She picked her first house, knocked on the door.
Hi, would you like to donate for juvenile diabetes? Kiah
asked.
Most people who answered their doors in the small town likely knew
Kiah and knew she had been diagnosed with Type 1 juvenile diabetes
earlier that year. Most were happy to donate.
Eleven years later Kiah, now 17, has helped raise more than $10,000
for juvenile diabetes. She also dedicates herself to her community
any way she can – sending care packages and letters to soldiers,
baking cookies for the elderly, raising money for other
causes.
Kiah Halvorson is Lanesboro Secondary School’s 2012 nominee for the
Above and Beyond Award.
A diagnosis, a revelation
When Kiah was in
kindergarten, her mother, Kim, first recognized the signs. Kiah was
tired all the time, drank a lot of water, and was hungrier than
usual. She was diagnosed in June 2000 and hospitalized for two
days.
Her family, who knew nothing about diabetes, was suddenly in charge
of their daughter’s life in a ways they didn’t expect and didn’t
understand. They were told if Kiah’s blood sugar rose too high or
fell too low, she could die.
“I was a nervous wreck,” Kim said.
The diagnosis led to a year of learning about and adapting to the
lifelong condition, most common among young people, where the body
does not produce the insulin that converts sugar and other foods
into energy.
It also led to a revelation.
During a class in Rochester on juvenile diabetes, Kiah’s family
learned about a fundraiser walk.
“We just gotta do this,” Kim remembered thinking. “We have to raise
money for research. They have to find a cure for this.”
Kiah’s family created their own team, the Sugar Babies, for the
JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes in Rochester. Kiah rode her bike around
town with her friends asking for donations. Twice a week she set up
a Kool-Aid stand (sugar-free only) on her front lawn. The
6-year-old raised between $500 and $600 for the family’s first
event.
When the Rochester walk was combined with one in Minneapolis in
2005, the Halvorsons teamed up with a few other families to launch
their own walk, naming it the Roll and Stroll.
The day of the walk, Kiah sets up tables and products, gathers door
prizes, organizes papers to sign, makes posters, hands out
T-shirts, blows up balloons, gives people directions and hands out
raffle prizes.
Kiah and her mom have also organized Scrappin’ for a Cure, a
scrapbooking event that will mark its fourth year in April. Last
year it raised close to $2,500.
Kiah puts her heart into the events, knowing the money the events
raise will go toward research that could one day cure her.
Managing a disease daily
Kiah knows what it’s like to live every day with her life in her
hands.
When her blood sugar drops she becomes disoriented, confused, has
trouble walking and thinking.
“When I’m low I get really shaky and my legs feel like jello,” she
said.
If they aren’t treated immediately the drops can prove fatal. And
poor management of the disease can lead to a host of issues in
adulthood, from blood vessel and nerve damage to vision and limb
loss.
So Kiah sticks to a strict schedule. In school before lunch she
checks her blood sugar and gives herself an insulin shot – usually
at the lunch table. At her basketball and volleyball games, she
regularly checks her blood sugar to ensure she can sustain the
exercise. When she can’t she’s forced to stand on the sidelines,
eating and waiting for sugars to kick in.
“You feel like you’re letting people down,” Kiah said.
Kiah has learned to accept her disease. She understands it has
limitations, but she has learned to manage them.
“It’s just diabetes, it’s not cancer, it’s not some total
disability, it’s just something I have to deal with it,” Kiah
said.
Kiah plans to go to college, then into the medical field. Her life
goal is to research diabetes and cancer – maybe even find a
cure.
“She’s certainly talented enough to do whatever she wants to do,”
said Lanesboro Secondary School principal Brett Clark.
No matter the field she pursues, Kiah plans to bring the ambition
and determination that’s guided her since she was 6, riding around
town to raise money for a cause she plans to fight for the rest of
her life.
At a glance
The annual Above and Beyond Award spotlights area high-school
seniors who have either overcome adversity or given selflessly to
their community. The program is sponsored by Winona State
University, Saint Mary’s University, Southeast Technical College
and the Winona Daily News.
