Walking with hope in mind

BY ELYSE AMEND

elyse.amend@transcontinental

Beaconsfield resident Andrée Donald thought her son, Raphaël Bacal, was just going through a tough time in Grade 6 when he started acting unlike himself.

“He had just started school and he was doing hockey try-outs,” she said. “He hadn’t made the team he wanted and we thought, maybe he’s depressed because of that.”

When Raphaël’s family brought him for a check-up that is what the doctor also initially thought. But when his condition did not improve over a number of weeks, they went back a second time. It was then Raphaël and his family learnt he had Type 1 diabetes.

“It was really difficult. First of all, I had no idea what it was. I remember, on the way to the hospital, I kept asking questions, like, does this mean I have to take injections every day and stuff like that,” said Raphaël, who is now 17 and is studying human sciences at College Brébeuf.

Both Raphaël and his mother will be attending the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Telus Walk to Cure Diabetes on May 25 in Angrignon Park, Last year, the cross-Canada event raised $6.5 million for juvenile diabetes research. The 2008 goal stands at $7 million, and according to JDRF communication agent Dominique Quirion, all the money raised in Quebec will stay in the province.

“We have a goal of $350,000 for Quebec,” she said.

While Raphaël says he and his family have adapted to his diabetes over the past six years, it was tough at first. Raphaël himself had to learn how to control his diabetes, give himself insulin injections, test his blood, and monitor his eating, while his family had to learn about taking care of a child with diabetes.

“He had to become autonomous and mature a lot quicker,” Donald said. “I think the main thing was, you wonder if you’ll be able to take care of him…I was lucky Raphaël has always been a vary serious type of person.”

She explained that the family did everything they could to make sure their son could have a normal life, including taking time off work and going out of town to make sure he was getting his insulin injections when he was on sleep-away school trips.

Today, Raphaël is on a system using rapid insulin that he injects after meals, which he says gives him a lot of freedom

“I used to always have the same amount of food, no matter what. Now, I can eat one piece of pizza, or a tonne,” he said, adding he also likes to keep active playing soccer and hockey, but does have to be mindful of his diabetes. “I guess I’m used to it. I’m kind of adjusted to it. I’m not scared to talk about it with my friends.”

Both Raphaël and his mother continue to stay involved with the JDRF for one main reason: hope.

“For me, it gives me hope that they will find something while I’m alive and while Raphaël is alive,” Donald said. While insulin allows a person with diabetes to stay alive, it does not cure it or prevent the disease’s effects, which can include kidney failure, blindness, nerve damage, amputations, heart disease, and stroke. There are over 200,000 Canadians who have Type 1 diabetes. The occurrence rate in this country rises between three to five per cent every year, and Canada has the sixth highest occurrence rate of Type 1 diabetes in children 14 years old and under.

“With the JDRF, I feel like we’re accomplishing something for all the children who have diabetes,” Donald said.

The JDRF Telus Walk to Cure Diabetes will get underway at 10 a.m. on May 25 in Angrignon Park in Montreal. For more information on the JDRF and the walk, visit www.jdrf.ca.