SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - A 14-year-old South Dakota girl coping with Type 1 diabetes is headed to Washington to ask Congress to help her fight the disease.
Maddie McElroy, of Sioux Falls, will be attending the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Children’s Congress starting Monday, the Argus Leader (https://argusne.ws/1NWR6KI ) reported. The event is held every other year with more than 100 kids diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes serving as delegates, meeting with their state representatives.
“We’ll tell them how funding for Type 1 diabetes is really benefiting us and how they should keep funding this so we have more advancements,” McElroy said. “I’m super excited to go up there and talk to the higher-up people.”
Diabetes is a chronic illness which occurs when the pancreas can’t make enough insulin. The purpose of the gathering is to lobby Congress for funding for Type 1 diabetes and raise awareness about the disease.
Children from around the world will also attend the event this year. McElroy has been paired with a girl from Israel and they’ve been emailing each other gearing up for when they will be able to meet in person.
McElroy was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes seven years ago. McElroy’s family learned she had diabetes after they were on vacation and she wasn’t feeling well. She was constantly thirsty and needed frequent bathroom breaks. A five-hour drive ended up taking the family six hours.
“It made us stop and think - that’s not right,” said McElroy’s mother, Michelle. McElroy’s blood sugar was tested at a clinic and it was determined she had diabetes.
McElroy now uses an insulin pump, but says the disease has not slowed her down.
“Diabetes doesn’t ruin my life whatsoever. It’s just another part of me,” she said. “There are some obstacles that get in my way. Otherwise I live my life as normally as a teenager can - just with a couple extra things to take care of.”
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Information from: Argus Leader, https://www.argusleader.com
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