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Contributor: Haley; www.naturallysweett.com
Connection: Teen with type 1 diabetes
Quote: “The hardest part is the emotional pain. Other people don’t know how it feels to be different. People make comments all the time. I feel labeled as ‘the diabetic girl’. I just want to be Haley.”
Contributor: Nicole
Connection: Teen with type 1 diabetes
Quote: “Don’t feel like you have to [get involved] in stuff that is not your thing. I don’t want to get involved in exercise stuff; I want to do the [clinical] trials and research. [Don't be afraid to] speak up.”
Contributor: Moira McCarthy; despitediabetes.com
Connection: Parent of a young adult with type 1 diabetes
Quote: “I thought [her diagnosis] was the end of the world, but it’s 15 years later now, and we’ve been through everything.”
Contributor: Michael
Connection: Person with type 1 diabetes
“Michael V. diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes 6/30/97 shows what you can do with diabetes through his photos.”
Contributors: Campers from the Diabetes Youth Foundation of Indiana, 2011
Connection: Kids and teens with type 1 diabetes, as well as the camp’s staff
Standout Quotes: “I like meeting other diabetics, because it’s nice to know I’m not the only one around.”
Contributor: AJ Cunder; www.thesilvertalon.com
Connection: Person with type 1 diabetes
Blog post: http://www.thesilvertalon.com/silver-talon-blog/you-can-do-this-
As a kid, I always wanted to be a firefighter. Since I was little, I’d wear my kid’s turnout gear around the house pretending I was answering a fire call. But sometimes people told me that since I had diabetes, I couldn’t be a firefighter. “How could you fight fires and save lives when you have to constantly worry about your own?” they’d ask. I would just look at them and shake my head, knowing that diabetes wouldn’t–couldn’t–stop me from achieving my dream. Now, at age 18, I’ve been with the Whippany Fire Department for over two years, I’ve battled a house fire, and I’ve responded to hundreds–yes, hundreds–of emergency calls, serving my community as a fully trained Whippany Fire Fighter. I did not let diabetes overcome my desire to be a firefighter. Of course, there are certain precautions I must take, such as keeping a bottle or two of Gatorade in my bunker pants in case I feel my blood sugar starting to drop on a fire call, but with those precautions taken care of, any diabetic can and should serve his or her community as a firefighter, EMT, police officer, or in whatever capacity he or she wishes.
