Correspondent of the Day: Living With Diabetes and Leading the Fight

Living With Diabetes And Leading the Fight
Editor, Times-Dispatch: My name is Hailey and I was diagnosed with Type I diabetes on March 20, 2008. Recently, I was the proud captain of team Hailey's Helpers at the Juvenile Diabetes Walk at Byrd Park. It was my second walk and it was great! There was music, games, and lots of people there to raise money for diabetes research.

Life with diabetes is not always easy, but it is not bad either. The day I was diagnosed my blood sugar was 600 but that was as high as the machine would go. I had to go to the emergency room and I was scared but I didn't cry at all. They said I'd have to use needles to check my blood and to give myself medicine every day.

My mom has always said that something good will come from something bad. We don't even call diabetes bad anymore. Even though I am only 9 years old I understand how important it is to make good food choices and how important it is to exercise. I love to swim, I have a purple belt in karate, I love to dance at church, and I even learned how to ice skate. Next I'd like to learn how to play tennis. There isn't anything I can't do even though I have diabetes.

I have had chances to do things that I never did before, like the walk. I had the chance to sing on stage with Elliott Yamin at the JDRF Gala and next month I am going to talk to nursing students about what it's like to be a kid living with diabetes. My teacher this year was diagnosed with diabetes when she was in the third grade and we even have the same kind of pump.

What I want everyone to know is that they are working to find a cure for diabetes. Diabetes research means a lot to me and my family. When they find a cure it will be the greatest moment of my life!

Hailey Compton.
Mechanicsville.