Age: 14
Age at T1D diagnosis: 11

T1D impacted Rollie’s life long before he discovered he had the disease—both his brother and his father had already been diagnosed with T1D. Hearing that he had it too really hit home. “When I was diagnosed, I realized that T1D is a big deal,” Rollie says. “T1D is very unpredictable. Even when I do everything correctly, I might not get good results.” Yet T1D hasn’t prevented Rollie from achieving spectacular results in other areas of his life. Having earned two black belts, he teaches young children martial arts; and, an avid outdoorsman, Rollie enjoys hunting and fishing. His hope for this JDRF Children’s Congress is also a hope for his family: “I want better treatments, a cure and eventually prevention, so the third boy in my family doesn’t get T1D.”

READ ROLLIE’S LATEST NEWS:

Saline teen with type 1 diabetes selected to represent Michigan at JDRF 2015 Children’s Congress