Age: 7
Age at T1D diagnosis: 1

The beeping of her insulin pump isn’t the worst thing about having T1D. But for Claire, it may be the most annoying. The seven-year-old has better things to do than lay awake at night listening to her pump, like talking to her friends about life with T1D, or walking with her Girl Scout troop in the West Tennessee Chapter’s JDRF One Walk event, or acting as a Walk Ambassador, or attending the chapter Halloween Fest. In her spare time, the aspiring pediatrician plays soccer and the piano. “Type 1 diabetes research is important to me because I don’t want to listen to my pump beep anymore, and I don’t want to miss class anymore because school is really fun and I like to learn,” Claire says. “I don’t like having diabetes.”

JDRF Children’s Congress / LocalMemphis.com / July 17, 2017