Hundreds Join in Walk to Fight Diabetes

Laura Chen came for her mom, May Chen. David Freeman for his smiling fiancee, Jackie Doe. And 100 others for 8-year-old Nick Ramirez.

The motives were varied but the mission was the same for hundreds who turned out Saturday for America’s Walk for Diabetes, a 10K shoreline stroll around San Buenaventura State Beach that raised about $25,000.

“It’s important to get the information out there, but for Nick it was about having one day that wasn’t negative--that wasn’t all about shots and being poked,” said Nick’s mother, Franky Ramirez, of Port Hueneme.

Nick’s large family, including his two brothers, Christopher and Aaron, sported white “Team Nick” T-shirts with a skateboarder on the front and the words “Chasing the cure for diabetes.”

Ramirez said a printer in Port Hueneme volunteers his time to make the shirts each year, and family members and friends buy them for $5 each to help raise money for diabetes research.

Although recovering from stomach surgery, Nick walked the entire winding route with his family, classmates from Sunkist Elementary School and sports buddies.

“He’s really had a rough year, but he’s smiling and happy today,” Ramirez said.

In Nick’s case, the turnout was particularly poignant because about half of Ventura County’s estimated 60,000 diabetics are Latinos. Nick, who is Latino, and his team of walkers raised more than $1,500.

One in seven Latinos will develop the disease, say experts, who believe the cause may be genetic. About half of all diabetics in the county are unaware they have the disease, doctors said.

“So many family members and friends recognize the seriousness of this disease yet there are so many more people to reach,” said Gloria Nuckols, district manager for the local chapter of the American Diabetes Assn.

Ventura resident Stephanie White, who is diabetic, could not participate because she had recently undergone artery bypass surgery in her right leg, but her children and friends walked for her.

White’s condition did not stop her from mingling and talking to people about diabetes at a post-walk picnic in the beach park. Diabetics have high rates of complications with blindness, kidney disease and loss of limbs, she said.

“There’s just not enough being done about it,” White said. “I get upset when I see the commercials about this being a livable disease. This is tough to deal with.”

White has endured a kidney transplant, the loss of her pancreas and eye surgery. She must constantly prick her finger and check her blood sugar before injecting herself in the stomach with insulin.

It may sound odd, but White, as do many diabetics, appreciates the times when a family member or friend gives her one of the five insulin injections she has each day.

“Sometimes you just need a break from it,” she said. “These people are my support group, and sometimes I need them. They are wonderful.”

Chen, 23, of Ventura, walked with her boyfriend, Jeff Davies, 24. Chen’s mother is a diabetic and the disease runs in the family, she said.

Ben Pearson, 18, of Oxnard, learned about his diabetes six years ago and has spent the past two years raising money to fight the disease. Sporting a red-and-white badge with a line through the word “diabetes,” Pearson said the toughest part of battling diabetes is keeping his blood sugar in a normal range. Pearson tests himself up to 10 times a day.

“Diabetes kills more people than AIDS and breast cancer combined,” Pearson said.

Sitting on a picnic table enjoying a bag lunch provided to walkers, Freeman, of Simi Valley, said he fears but accepts what could someday happen to his girlfriend.

“It’s part of my life so I help her as much as a I can with eating correctly and exercising,” Freeman said of his fiancee. “It’s a disease that shortens her life and I have to deal with that.”