Some 75 people are gearing up to walk with Faith on Nov. 6.
Faith, in this case, is 9-year-old Faith Gilman of San Clemente. She has juvenile diabetes, and lots of local residents are pledging to walk with her as part of the 2011 Walk to Cure Diabetes at UC Irvine.
Faith’s friend Aubrey Johnston, 10, is among the walkers. Aubrey and friends have operated a lemonade stand and bake sale in their section of San Clemente, the Reserve. Brian Johnston, Aubrey’s father, says the girls who operated the stand know Faith is unable to join them for cake and ice cream at a birthday party and must avoid mistakes in whatever is fed to her.
So far, the “Walking with Faith” team has raised $3,545 toward a $5,000 goal and hopes to raise more at walkingwithfaith.us.org.
Faith will be doing the 3-mile walk along with her family, friends and other supporters.
A few words from Faith’s mother, Wendy:
About the walk: “We have had nearly 75 walk with us for the past three years. The team is composed mainly of family friends from Faith’s school, Marblehead Elementary. The JDRF walk usually has approximately 5,000 walkers at the event. Because it is juvenile diabetes-specific, most are families with young children and lots of kids’ activities offered after the walk – bounce houses, face painting, balloon artists, local youth bands, etc.”
About Aubrey and Faith: “Aubrey and Faith are both fourth-graders at Marblehead Elementary and have both been members of Girl Scout Troop 2048 for the past three years. This is the troop’s fourth year together and they are a very close group of 20 girls. The girls have supported JDRF each year by walking in the event, individually raising money and hosting lemonade and bake-sale stands to raise funds and awareness. Just last week they raised almost $500 with lemonade/bake-sale stands for JDRF.”
About juvenile diabetes: “The worry of illness is always a real threat. Diabetes complicates even the most simple cold. Blood sugars rise when the body is fighting off an illness, which in turn can create additional complications to combat. Blood sugars must be closely monitored through finger pricks during illness to avoid low or very high extremes … both of which can create immediate and life-threatening complications.”
How Faith has done: “Since Faith’s diagnosis at age 4, she has had a few very serious situations that required hospitalization. Controlling insulin-dependent diabetes is like walking a tight rope. Either side can be very dangerous. They don’t outgrow it, and there is no cure at this point. We only attempt to manage sugar levels in the blood through multiple finger pricks every day and insulin injections through shots or via an insulin pump.”
About food: “Every carbohydrate eaten must be precisely counted and matched by an exact dose of insulin to balance blood sugars. Precision is crucial in diabetes care.”
A normal life: “Children with diabetes look like anyone else. Faith is an excellent athlete and conscientious student. In some ways, that makes it all more dangerous. If she is around people who don’t know she has diabetes and don’t know the symptoms to watch for, she could quickly move into a medical emergency … even unconsciousness from blood-sugar levels dropping too low.”
Contact the writer: fswegles@ocregister.com or 949-492-5127
