Woodbridge Girl Taking Type I Diabetes Battle To Congress

Woodbridge youth Sophie Baum will be representing her town, county and state in Washington, D.C this week as a Connecticut delegate to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund’s (JDRF) 2013 Children’s Congress.

Baum, a bright, energetic young woman of 13, will be joined by 150 other children from across the country, ages 4 to 17, as a unified voice on the importance of continued research into type 1 diabetes.

The following information was provided by the JDRF Greater New Haven Chapter:

Shy of her first birthday, Sophie, began to exhibit some unusual behaviors: visiting the bathroom more and stealing sippy cups from classmates. Her teacher immediately recognized the symptoms and encouraged her parents to test Sophie for type 1 diabetes (T1D). At first, Sophie’s parents felt overwhelmed with this news, but eventually things got easier.  

These days, Sophie is incredibly independent, checking her own sugar levels. The insulin pump has also given her more freedom, but she still faces some challenges.

These obstacles, though, have not hindered Sophie; she is exceptionally bright, articulate, talented and driven. Sophie plays violin and sings. She has even had the opportunity to sing the national anthem at a Jonas Brothers’ kickball game.

Sophie has also been active in the Greater New Haven chapter of JDRF and has participated in the walk raising over $120,000 to date.  

For fun, Sophie loves to play tennis and swim. Managing her blood sugar levels in the pool without the insulin pump “takes a lot of guesswork,” Sophie says. Still, she does not let her diabetes stop her from staying active.

She also enjoys reading, doing crafts and making earrings.

Growing up with both parents in the medical field, Sophie has always been interested in medicine. Sophie loves doing labs and research in school. She has dreamed of practicing many types of medicine from pediatrics to veterinary dermatology to ophthalmology.  

Sophie is very much looking forward to representing the North Central CT/ Western Mass and Greater New Haven Chapters at the 2013 Children’s Congress in Washington D.C. She is not only excited to meet other kids with T1D, but she also wants to meet members of Congress and see how things work in Washington.

Her biggest goal, though, is to raise awareness for T1D. She hopes that researchers will find a cure, but she realizes that may take many years. In the meantime, Sophie hopes for increased research into things like the artificial pancreas to make living with T1D easier.

This trip, she believes, is important, and “the amount we can do will never be enough.” Having already accomplished so much in support of JDRF’s mission, Sophie will surely move, dazzle, and inspire us in Washington.

To learn more about Sophie and her story, please visit: http://cc.jdrf.org/delegates/sophie-2/.  

For more information on Children’s Congress taking place July 8-10, please visit: http://cc.jdrf.org/about-jdrf-childrens-congress/.