Haley May, 13, holds her head up high when she talks about having Type 1 diabetes.

She is not ashamed of the disease that she has learned to manage thanks to healthy living and a wireless insulin pump hidden under her shirt.

When she first found out she had diabetes in 2007, she quickly realized there was nothing she could do to make the disease go away, so she had to make the most of the situation.

“If I had the choice, I, of course, would not choose to have diabetes, but a lot of good opportunities have come from it,” Haley said as she swung on a tire swing with her younger sister, Morgan, in the backyard of their northeast home.

Haley, now an eighth-grader at Deerlake Middle, vividly remembers the day her mom, Kristie, took her for a routine physical. The doctor tested her blood sugar and discovered it was way above where it should be. She had no signs or symptoms commonly linked with the disease, but the doctor told her that if a few more weeks had gone by that she could have ended up in a coma.

Type 1 diabetes develops when the body’s immune system destroys pancreatic beta cells, which are the only cells in the body that make the hormone insulin, which regulates blood glucose, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Type 1 diabetes usually strikes children and young adults, although onset can occur at any age.

The day of her diagnosis was the day Haley became an advocate for diabetes, refusing to be a victim.

Over the past three years, Haley and her family have raised over $13,000 to go towards diabetes research.

It was Haley’s idea to have a car wash at the Farmers & Merchants Bank on Thomasville Road, where her father, Don, works as senior vice-president.

“We just thought we would wash a few cars and earn a couple hundred dollars,” said Don, who was amazed by the generosity of the community. More than $6,000 was raised at their first car wash and $7,000 at the second.

On Saturday, the May family will host a third car wash at the bank, giving all proceeds to the American Diabetes Association.

Haley has also been to Washington, D.C. to lobby for funding for diabetes research and to the Leon County School Board to educate others about the disease.

“We are so proud that she is not letting the diabetes ruin her life or hold her back in any way,” Don said about his daughter. “Since the very first day she has had a great attitude.”

While Haley has accepted having diabetes, she said there are still times when she asks “why me.”

“There is no way to prevent, cause or cure Type 1 diabetes,” said Roberta Stevens, a registered dietician and certified diabetes educator who works with patients at the Tallahassee Memorial Diabetes Center.

Stevens said there are still many unanswered questions about diabetes and that is why research is so important.

After Haley was diagnosed, both her parents, Don and Kristie, were tested, as well as their other daughter, Morgan.

Neither Don or Kristie had the genes for diabetes, but Morgan, 11, does. Stevens said it’s unknown why some family members have the gene and others don’t.

To be proactive in helping answer some of the unanswered questions, Morgan is part of a study at Shands Hospital in Gainesville that looks at the genetics of siblings to people with diabetes.

“I’m like a little guinea pig, but it’s cool that I could be part of finding a cure,” Morgan said.

Until questions are answered, Haley and the May family will continue to raise money and awareness to educate people about diabetes.

Haley said proudly, “I was diagnosed to spread awareness.”

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By Iricka Berlinger