Miami Heat player Ray Allen, winner of two NBA championships, recently announced that he and his son has come face to face with their most difficult opponent—diabetes.
Allen went to Washington D.C on Thursday to appeal personally to the members of the Congress to continue funding type 1 diabetes research. His son, Walker, was diagnosed with the disease as early as 17 months old and had been battling with it since then. Walker is now six years old.
The father and son went to the Congress to speak for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Children's Congress. They explained the importance of funding diabetes research.
The Sports Illustrated Kids was able to have an interview with Allen before his appearance in the Congress in which he was asked several questions related to the condition of his son and his view about the diabetes research.
He explained how the entire family felt devastated when they found out Walker’s condition. They were not familiar with the disease and feared the long term effect of the disease to their son. They were able to understand the situation when family friends started talking to them.
The JDRF has been very helpful to Allen’s family in making sure that Walker gets the best doctor available as well as the medicine and equipment that could relieve him from his disease. Life felt a little normal and bearable for the family.
“But I'll add, to take care of my son Walker, it takes everybody. His brothers look out for him, his aunts, his uncles, his grandmothers, his grandfathers -- he has so many people who look out for him. And his biggest advocate is his mother. She's the one that's connected to him, tied to him at the hip at all times. She makes sure that this guy stays alive and she's the one who loses all the sleep when I'm traveling and on the road,” Allen said in the interview.
Walker enjoys playing basketball too but needs to be more careful because the adrenaline rush that the game gives him causes his blood sugar to bounce up as well. The family never let him play without someone looking after him.
Allen also appealed to people to stop bullying children with diabetes because it may affect them negatively. Kids need to know that there are kids who are dealing with so many issues around our schools. But we've got to make sure these kids understand it and that they encourage their friends who have diabetes to make sure they continue to take shots and they continue to take care of their diabetes because it's life threatening if they don't.”
