Diabetes Can't Stop A Warrior: 11-Year-Old Keeps Playing Basketball After Diagnosis

PEABODY, MA –For 11-year-old Leanna Perez, there was never a question of whether she would continue playing basketball after she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Playing forward and center for the Carroll School Tigers is one of her favorite things to do.

Leanna was diagnosed roughly two weeks before her 11th birthday, according to her father, Al Perez. She was in the hospital briefly, and then she and her parents went to boot camp training over winter vacation to learn how to manage her blood sugar.

"It's a balance with a very small margin of error," said Al. "You become a pseudo-doctor in a very short period of time."

Al said it meant Leanna also had to become responsible and organized beyond her years: To start thinking about how much food she's going to have before she has it, eat extra before basketball games, and pay strict attention to how she's feeling at all times.

"She just wanted to play with her friends and be part of it. It’s not easy," said Al. He said he's in awe of how determined she's been to keep playing, and the fact that she's hardly missed a game.

The Perez family has met a surprising amount of other parents with T1D children – including one of the local coaches. Al said the support network that they've found of other parents has been helpful in the day-to-day worries of Type 1 diabetes.

The school nurse, principal, and guidance counselor also offered their support to the family.

The American Diabetes Association estimates that 1.25 million Americans have Type 1 diabetes, though it is the rarer form of the disease. The ADA said roughly 5 percent of patients with diabetes have Type 1.

Type 1 diabetes, most common in young people, means that the body doesn't produce insulin, which is needed to get glucose from the bloodstream into the cells of the body, per the ADA.

"Kids want to be kids, and I think that’s probably true of a lot of diseases," Al said.

Image courtesy of Al Perez