Running for Diabetes
Hi everybody! My name is Talon King.
I’m a grade 12 student at CASS
Here’s my story and the reason i’m fundraising this money
In mid-late January 2020 i started rapidly losing weight, i was constantly irritated, and throwing up every night for about a week. i was 5’2, 60lbs. After a while of trying to figure what was wrong with me, and failing to do so, my family brought me to the ER. After a couple of tests coming up with nothing the doctors eventually tested my Blood Sugar Levels. They came up at 27.1.
A normal range is between 5-8. And on Feb 1st 2020 I was officially diagnosed with Type One Diabetes (T1D for short). An ambulance was called to bring me to the sault hospital because the ER didn’t have what was needed to treat me I got loaded into the ambulance, brought to the hospital(where the picture above was taken), and was there for 4 days where i was treated for severe Diabetic KetoAcidosis(DKA).
When I was diagnosed I was told that had I waited 3 more days to go into the ER my organs would’ve started to shut down and I would have been fighting for my life at that point. The diagnosis changed everything about my life, from how i walked, ate, and slept, to how i saw myself and my general outlook on life. I developed a kind of hopelessness for along time. My weight had doubled from 60lbs to 120lbs within a month of my diagnosis and i ended up dealing with anorexia because of it.
Nothing felt like it mattered anymore because i was always so close to dying and every day was a fight to survive just to do it all again the next day, i stopped caring about everything.
During the latter half of my second year and the beginning of my third i got really into taking walks around my town at night. I’d usually go out around 11 because that meant no one else was out and i didn’t want people seeing me, sometimes i’d go out as late as 3am-4am just to avoid people. But, as much as they ruined my sleep schedule, they helped alot with my dealing with all my mental issues. I realized how nice it was to be active, and got scared of losing my feet due to diabetic complications I started taking better care of myself, starting setting goals to aspire for.
Fast forward a little of my home was being repossessed by the bank. I moved in with my grandma on my dad’s side, who lived alot closer to my school.
Instead of a 40min bus ride to school it was only a little over an hours walk away.
So i started walking to school. I’d get up at 6am, get ready, and leave at 6:50am. i’d walk through these back roads every morning, watching the sun rise and seeing various animals. I went on these walks every morning for about two months until we managed to get our house back.
When i moved back i started to miss my long morning walks and during a conversation with a friend i jokingly said “maybe i should just walk to school from town”, obviously that’s crazy, it’d take anywhere from 7-9 hours to walk that distance. But after i said that to them, they looked me in the eyes and told me they didn’t think i’d physically be able to do that. So, like the reasonable person i am, i walked from town to school just to prove that i could do it. i left at 11pm the night before. Not counting the breaks i took to eat and all that, It took around 8 hours, It was a great idea and i don’t regret a second of it.
About a week or two after i was thinking about what to do for my culminating in my sociology class. I had to do something for charity and i wasn’t sure what to do, eventually i landed on this. Starting on the Nov, 27th. 2023. 4-5days, 300km, from Sault Ste Marie to Sudbury.
I want to do it, not just to raise money, but to prove that i and any other diabetic with the motivation for it, can do it.
Way to many people think i can’t do anything because i’m diabetic, and i’m tired of how much i’m doubted because of it, i hate the stigma around the disability i genetically inherited. So, I’ve decided to dedicate a large portion of my life to proving that it can’t stop me, i won’t let it.
I’m going to walk from Sault Ste Marie to Sudbury
I’m going to walk Terry Fox’s path across canada
And I’m going to reach the summit of the tallest mountain on all 7 continents, Everest included. And nothing is going to stop me
There might never be a cure for T1D in my lifetime but i can still raise money and hope something good comes out of it.
My goal for this fundraiser is $5,000, I hope i can reach that goal but even if i don’t every dollar donated matters. thank you to anyone and everyone who donates even a little.
I’m a grade 12 student at CASS
Here’s my story and the reason i’m fundraising this money
In mid-late January 2020 i started rapidly losing weight, i was constantly irritated, and throwing up every night for about a week. i was 5’2, 60lbs. After a while of trying to figure what was wrong with me, and failing to do so, my family brought me to the ER. After a couple of tests coming up with nothing the doctors eventually tested my Blood Sugar Levels. They came up at 27.1.
A normal range is between 5-8. And on Feb 1st 2020 I was officially diagnosed with Type One Diabetes (T1D for short). An ambulance was called to bring me to the sault hospital because the ER didn’t have what was needed to treat me I got loaded into the ambulance, brought to the hospital(where the picture above was taken), and was there for 4 days where i was treated for severe Diabetic KetoAcidosis(DKA).
When I was diagnosed I was told that had I waited 3 more days to go into the ER my organs would’ve started to shut down and I would have been fighting for my life at that point. The diagnosis changed everything about my life, from how i walked, ate, and slept, to how i saw myself and my general outlook on life. I developed a kind of hopelessness for along time. My weight had doubled from 60lbs to 120lbs within a month of my diagnosis and i ended up dealing with anorexia because of it.
Nothing felt like it mattered anymore because i was always so close to dying and every day was a fight to survive just to do it all again the next day, i stopped caring about everything.
During the latter half of my second year and the beginning of my third i got really into taking walks around my town at night. I’d usually go out around 11 because that meant no one else was out and i didn’t want people seeing me, sometimes i’d go out as late as 3am-4am just to avoid people. But, as much as they ruined my sleep schedule, they helped alot with my dealing with all my mental issues. I realized how nice it was to be active, and got scared of losing my feet due to diabetic complications I started taking better care of myself, starting setting goals to aspire for.
Fast forward a little of my home was being repossessed by the bank. I moved in with my grandma on my dad’s side, who lived alot closer to my school.
Instead of a 40min bus ride to school it was only a little over an hours walk away.
So i started walking to school. I’d get up at 6am, get ready, and leave at 6:50am. i’d walk through these back roads every morning, watching the sun rise and seeing various animals. I went on these walks every morning for about two months until we managed to get our house back.
When i moved back i started to miss my long morning walks and during a conversation with a friend i jokingly said “maybe i should just walk to school from town”, obviously that’s crazy, it’d take anywhere from 7-9 hours to walk that distance. But after i said that to them, they looked me in the eyes and told me they didn’t think i’d physically be able to do that. So, like the reasonable person i am, i walked from town to school just to prove that i could do it. i left at 11pm the night before. Not counting the breaks i took to eat and all that, It took around 8 hours, It was a great idea and i don’t regret a second of it.
About a week or two after i was thinking about what to do for my culminating in my sociology class. I had to do something for charity and i wasn’t sure what to do, eventually i landed on this. Starting on the Nov, 27th. 2023. 4-5days, 300km, from Sault Ste Marie to Sudbury.
I want to do it, not just to raise money, but to prove that i and any other diabetic with the motivation for it, can do it.
Way to many people think i can’t do anything because i’m diabetic, and i’m tired of how much i’m doubted because of it, i hate the stigma around the disability i genetically inherited. So, I’ve decided to dedicate a large portion of my life to proving that it can’t stop me, i won’t let it.
I’m going to walk from Sault Ste Marie to Sudbury
I’m going to walk Terry Fox’s path across canada
And I’m going to reach the summit of the tallest mountain on all 7 continents, Everest included. And nothing is going to stop me
There might never be a cure for T1D in my lifetime but i can still raise money and hope something good comes out of it.
My goal for this fundraiser is $5,000, I hope i can reach that goal but even if i don’t every dollar donated matters. thank you to anyone and everyone who donates even a little.
Organizer
Talon King
Organizer
Desbarats, ON
Diabetes Canada
Beneficiary