CHICAGO (WGN) — Families and friends across Chicagoland came together Sunday morning at Montrose Harbor, raising more than a quarter million dollars for Type 1 diabetes research through the Breakthrough T1D Walk.
The lakefront event served as both a fundraiser and a celebration of progress in the fight against the disease. Many participants walked for loved ones.
“She’s been doing wonderful,” Joe Baldino said. “We were just ignorant to a degree but now we made the right changes, and you wouldn’t be able to tell.”
Others joined to support close friends.
“She’s very funny, she got diabetes when she was four and she really appreciates that I’m here,” Hazel Rubinstein said.
“We fundraised, we’re here, we’re supporting this work, and I think eventually, hopefully they will be able to find a cure,” Betsy Rubinstein added.
Breakthrough T1D funds research aimed at treating and ultimately curing Type 1 diabetes, a disease affecting more than 1.5 million Americans. Half of new cases are diagnosed in adults.
“We are closer today than we have ever been before. For more than 50 years, we’ve been funding breakthroughs that once seemed impossible. Today I’m wearing an insulin pump and a CGM that felt impossible years ago and we’re benefitting today from that research,” Michael Mayberry said. “Things are happening faster than ever in terms of research. It really is a renaissance period for us.”
For some, the walk also offered encouragement and visibility.
“I was diagnosed right around my 21st birthday so it was a very emotional point being in college and not knowing what to do,” Shetoya Russell-Hill said. “It makes me feel so much better, especially for the little kids. They can see me give myself insulin and wear a glucose monitor and it makes them feel better and they feel as if they’re not alone.”
Despite the challenges, many remain hopeful that a cure is within reach.
“The more we come together and talk about it and discuss it, I’m very hopeful that in the next 20 years, my children won’t even know what diabetes is,” Russell-Hill said.
For more information on Breakthrough T1D, click here.
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