Her eyes were open, but she was unresponsive. 

Her blood sugar was dangerously low. Her mom panicked as she tried to give her juice in hopes of her blood sugar going up. With no luck, her dad started to slip on her shoes to take her to the ER. She came back to her senses. 

Sophomore Maddie Pruitt was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 11 years old. Student council posted on social media for students to join the Breakthrough T1D walk held at Grandscape on Nov. 9 to support Maddie.

“I wasn’t even a teenager yet,” Maddie said. “I was still a kid. I didn’t know anything about it. It was all a very big shock to me, and it didn’t feel real in my mind.”

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the pancreas stops producing insulin. To keep blood sugar at the correct level, insulin is needed; without it, glucose cannot enter the cells in the muscles to receive energy. There is no way to cure the disease.

“She was very moody, [and] just not herself,” Maddie’s mom, Patricia Pruitt, said. “Those two were the trigger signs.”

Maddie was diagnosed on Dec. 23, 2020 and stayed in the hospital for three days. She was diagnosed with COVID-19 at the same time and was unable to have visitors other than her parents. 

“Everything that my parents learned [during] that time was through a screen,” Maddie said. “It was basically a Zoom call with the doctor and my parents in the hospital room, and my sister was not allowed to come. That was hard for me because my sister has been my best friend, and I really wanted to see her.”

Maddie said being vocal about the condition was difficult at the beginning. She would get invited to parties and dinners with her friends, but said she would feel too embarrassed to take insulin in front of them, ultimately putting herself at risk. 

“I was very shy when talking about being [a] diabetic,” Maddie said. “I didn’t even like that word, [and] I didn’t like hearing about it. I didn’t like when anybody talked about it.”

There are different ways that Maddie chooses to cope; sometimes, she writes out her feelings and, other times, she goes to her mom for a shoulder to lean on.

“I’ve had several days where I just wanted to be normal again,” Maddie said. “My mom helped me with that because she always reminds me that I am normal and that there isn’t anything to be ashamed about.”

The majority of people with diabetes have Type 2, which differs from Type 1 because it is caused by genetic and lifestyle factors such as obesity and physical inactivity. 

“A lot of people make jokes saying ‘if you eat that you’re going to get diabetes,’” Maddie said. “I take that to heart. I know they’re just joking, but they will never have to live their life like I live mine.”

A continuous glucose monitor (CGM) is a device that diabetics can wear on the back of their arm to track their blood sugar level throughout the day and night. Maddie started using a CGM made by Dexcom after discovering Breakthrough T1D, an organization that advocates for Type 1 diabetes awareness and funds research projects.

“I’m very grateful that she found this organization,” Patricia said. “They’ve done a lot and [have] funded all of that technology [for the Dexcom] and all that research. Before, people with Type 1 would not be able to monitor their blood sugar unless they pricked their finger and checked every time, but now, they’re constantly able to see that.”

The Breakthrough T1D walk is a mile and a half walk intended to educate others and help fund research regarding Type 1 diabetes. Maddie worked with student council to organize a team where students can join the walk with her and donate to the cause.

“[Not everybody] gets the idea of Type 1 diabetes,” Maddie’s boyfriend, Kason Krantz, said. “So it’s really nice to see her getting out of her comfort zone and pushing for a walk, and we already [have] a bunch of kids going.”

This year will mark Maddie’s first walk with Breakthrough T1D and the student council. She said that student council has helped her with the process as well as feeling comfortable in her own skin. 

“I’ve never been good at talking to other people, other grownups or anything,” Maddie said. “But student council has helped me grow a lot more comfortable sharing my story. That has helped me to not feel so scared or so alone.”

Student council plans to continue supporting the cause by joining more walks and providing bags of candy in classrooms for any other students who might need to raise their blood sugar. 

“[I’ve learned that] there will always be somebody there for you,” Maddie said. “Keep trying because even though it is hard and [it] will never be ‘easy,’ it definitely does get better as long as you keep going.”