Go wild

Mandy Desbienes helps her son Zack cope with the daily ins and outs of Juvenile Diabetes.

Hundreds of families are getting ready this morning for the 10th Annual JDRF Walk at Lee Park and this year’ s theme is safari ‘Go Wild’.

For the past five years Mandy Desbienes and her family have learned what living with Juvenile Diabetes is all about as her son Zack is a diabetic. Two needles a day, testing sugar levels all the time have become common place in their lives but the Desbienes try to keep life as normal as possible.

“You are constantly thinking about it before and after sports the testing sometimes in the middle of the night I have to test him so it’s always there,” she says.

“The first thing I do when I get up is test him I have to find out what his blood sugar is, for the first insulin for the day, so it’s always there and you are always testing and always giving insulin but we also let him know that he can do anything that anyone else can, he can still do lots of sports.”

Students at Laurentian Public School, Zack’s school, have also learned what his condition is all about and as a show of support they hosted their own walk as a dry run for Sunday’s big event. The students raised $780 for the day.

Desbienes says it is wonderful to see how kids get behind one another for support, and she also says it is good to have JDRF as a support as well.

“Just to know that they are out there with the research and hopefully within 5 to 10 years they’ll have a cure that means a lot.”

Registration starts at 8:30 am and the walk kicks off at 10 am.