Age: 10
Age at T1D diagnosis: 7

Samantha has high hopes for others kids who, like her, struggle with T1D’s daily impact. “I want children to feel safe when they have sleepovers with friends or at birthday parties when their parents aren’t there. I want kids to play basketball and run track and field and not fall down from lows … I want kids to have hope, and I want to help heal them one day.”

Samantha has taken brave steps toward achieving her goals. She and her entire family have participated in clinical trials. And Samantha helped recruit a celebrity—Mike LaValliere, a former catcher in Major League Baseball—for her chapter’s Celebrity Bartending Event. In the future, her goal is to help cure T1D and to compete as a gymnast in the Olympics.