THRALL – Diabetes effects people, no matter the age. One student decided to fight back, and got support from his community.
Brandon Ford, a Thrall High School senior with Type 1 Diabetes, raised awareness at a school event in November for T1D by marching in a fundraising event and encouraging his community to learn more.
Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease in children and adults that strikes suddenly and has nothing to do with a poor diet full of sugar or an inactive lifestyle. With T1D, the pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone that turns sugar into energy. Without insulin, the body cannot process energy from food and patients go into comatose or death.
“It’s important for us to know the symptoms and traits of someone suffering a loss of insulin because more people can look out for them,” Ford said.
Only a consistent regimen of insulin treatment of three or more shots per day is the preventative tactic. There is no cure.
“It’s all about shining light on the issue,” Ford said.
However, T1D does not have to stop you from living a full life. Brandon is on the football team and plays in a band too.
“He could have let it stop him but it doesn’t stop him from doing anything,” said Briana Ford, Brandon’s mother.
In 2019, Ford was chosen as a Texas delegate to share his story of living with T1D and urged representatives in Washington, D.C., to continue their support of the Special Diabetes Act.
Team Brandon Walks, the team’s name for he and his family’s marches, walk to support the millions of people that live with T1D every day, while also raising funds to find better treatments.
After his first diagnosis in 2011 at five years old, Ford and his family became involved in The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, engaging in such fundraising walks and raising thousands of dollars.
“Our team was small to start with, but now it has grown and grown and grown,” Mrs. Ford said.
The school’s support this year motivated Ford in new ways.
“It takes [my] breath away [to see] a lot of people care about me,” he said. “That’s the energetic benefit of standing strong in a supportive community, it gives you the courage to live the life you want to live.”
The walks generally serve as powerful perspective shifts for diabetics. Ford shared how he used to feel embarrassed to check his blood or get a shot in public because people would stare at him like something was wrong.
“I am not alone fighting this disease,” he said.
On World Diabetes Day, Nov. 14, he took one stride closer to this goal. He, his fellow students, and head teachers wore blue shirts with their slogan ‘Team Brandon Walks’ for a fundraising walk.
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation gives families and friends the place and time for these mindset shifts.
Lynn Crabb, Ford’s school nurse from age five to eighth grade, has also been supportive for throughout his journey of learning the ropes of T1D. She nursed him when the family was just learning how to manage the strict insulin regimens and blood sugar checks.
“He was really young. He was just getting used to school when this was all happening so it was all about [us getting to know each other] so he could trust me,” she said.
From a mother’s standpoint, Mrs. Ford mentioned how scary it was to send her child to school without really knowing how school medical treatment would be. Crabb, with 18 years in Thrall ISD, was there to care for him. In fact, the impact of Crabb on Ford’s life was so profound that she actually waited to retire until he was going into high school.
“[I knew] when he was ready to go into high school, he was ready to fly,” Crabb said.
Crabb and the Ford family are still great friends and feel like family.
“I don’t know what I would have done without her,” said Mrs. Ford in an encouraged tone.
Ford said he is filled with thanks by the support given to him, but he is also disheartened by the amount of people who don’t have that support. His mission is to educate everyone so they know T1D symptoms and can prevent strenuous situations when a stranger presents them.
“I like when people ask me about it,” he said, “I like to explain it to them . . . It’s a big thing for me to have people that understand me.”
He wishes to continue being an active advocate until a cure is found for this life-threatening disease. Even in his early checkups with Crabb, Ford would say he is going to be a doctor because the world needs a cure.
