Making a difference

Elizabeth Bailey was 8 years old when her brother Chris, then 12, was diagnosed with Type 1 juvenile diabetes, a disease neither one of them had heard of before that day.

“It’s a life-changing experience for the whole family,” said Susanne Bailey, Chris and Elizabeth’s mother. “It’s a new normal. You don’t ever expect it in your family.”

Type 1 juvenile diabetes is a disease that causes the body to attack the pancreas and kill insulin-producing cells, making people insulin dependent for life. If their blood sugar gets too high or low, then they can faint, have a stroke or other life-threatening situations. There is no cure.

That’s why they have to regularly check blood sugar. 

“At first, he had to do three to four shots every day so that his meals would be able to digest,” Elizabeth Bailey, now a junior at Briarwood Christian School, said.

With further research developments on the disease, Chris Bailey was able to eventually switch to what his family refers to as a pump, — a device attached to the hip that automatically checks insulin levels and adjusts them without the use of shots.

“The most difficult thing I’ve seen with children with Type 1 is it’s a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week, 365-days-a-year disease. There’s never a break, never a vacation. They can never not manage their disease,” Suzanne Bailey said.

After a year of her brother having the disease, Elizabeth Bailey decided to make her first walk team to raise money for Type 1 diabetes research. 

She asked all her friends to walk with her and donate to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) instead of buying her gifts for her birthday that year. She went door-to-door around the neighborhood explaining to people about the disease and seeing if they would want to donate. 

“She, at such a young age, took such a guardianship over Chris and could probably understand his highs and lows as well as he could,” Suzanne Bailey said. 

Since then, Elizabeth Bailey has led multiple walks. This year, she said the group of friends and supporters has gotten even bigger. 

She said she has raised more than $19,000 for research funds, not counting the funds from this year. The money from the walk and 5K this year, which was Sept. 25 at Veterans Park, are going to fund research for an artificial pancreas. 

Elizabeth Bailey said this year her team of friends made T-shirts and stands to educate people about the research and where the funds go. She also said she wants to make sure people know that Type 1 diabetes can be a misunderstood disease, and it isn’t caused by diet or weight. 

“That’s a different type of diabetes,” Elizabeth Bailey said. “Once people know, I think they understand it differently and have more of an empathy when they finally understand what it is and what the people go through.”

Chris Bailey, who is a senior at Samford University this year, also attends the walks, along with some of his friends from high school and new friends from college. 

“When he was first diagnosed, a lot of people like ostracized him, because they didn’t really know what it was and stuff like that, so to see all of these people and his friends and my friends coming to support him, is like a really big encouragement to him,” Elizabeth Bailey said.

She said she feels like the walks have affected Birmingham’s understanding of Type 1 diabetes in a positive way. As a junior at Briarwood Christian High School this year, Elizabeth Bailey is also the president for JDRF for the school.

“I had to grow up watching him go through it, and it’s really just impacted my life. I definitely want to do something with this organization when I’m older because I’ve seen how it can affect a family,” Elizabeth Bailey said.

She said she hopes more people continue to participate each year and make a difference.