Age: 9
Age at T1D diagnosis: 1

“I’m proud of myself because anything I set my mind to, I accomplish,” proudly says Stella. Take biking and unicycling, for instance. “I wanted to bike, and I woke up and did it. Same with unicycling. My parents took me and I got it in the first two hours!” Stella also loves swimming, diving, tennis, soccer, running, skating and gymnastics, and she applies that same passionate and positive attitude toward spreading awareness of T1D. Stella has led her school’s JDRF Walk, attends the JDRF Gala, and enjoys researching the latest in T1D developments, such as Google’s smart contact lens, which would monitor blood–sugar levels. “My biggest dream for the future is for a cure,” she says. “But I also dream about becoming a doctor and helping people with diabetes just like me.”

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Two local youngsters head to Washington D.C. to lobby for Type 1 Diabetes research funding