Local kids fight diabetes with courage
This week I had the opportunity to meet two extraordinary children, Hunter Todd and Hannah Barnett.
I met these two children while doing a story about the fundraiser Phil Campbell Elementary School recently held to raise money for juvenile diabetes, a condition both of these children have.
Hunter is in kindergarten and Hannah is in the fourth grade but already, these two kids have gone through more than most adults.
Most of us have the freedom to eat whatever we choose.
We can have a slice of mom’s apple pie and top it off with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream. We can eat Halloween candy left over from trick-or-treating. We can sip hot chocolate when it gets cold outside.
Hunter and Hannah can’t.
Most of us go about our day never worrying about what our insulin levels are. We don’t have to prick our fingers. We don’t have to give ourselves shots. We don’t have to wear a pump on our side that constantly gives us something we need to live.
Hunter and Hannah do.
Juvenile diabetes affects most of the decisions these children (or their parents) make, but to meet them, you’d never know it.
These two kids were two of the sweetest children I’ve ever seen. They were polite and respectful and talked to me openly about what they go through. But neither one of them ever complained during the entire time I met with them.
They just smiled.
I learned a lot from those two. I complain a lot more than I should about things that really don’t matter and here are two children who have every reason to complain and they don’t.
Before I left, Hannah had one simple request: to find a cure for juvenile diabetes.
The foundation these two kids support is the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). This holiday season, if you’re looking for a cause to donate to or support, I would encourage you to look at this organization along with any other worthy causes you normally support.
Because I can personally attest that there are at least two sweet children out there who would love for someone to find a cure for juvenile diabetes.
