Apr 07, 2010- 11:58 AM
The six-year-old, who has Type 1 diabetes, will line up at the start line for the fifth annual Sudbury Rocks Race, Run or Walk for Diabetes with nearly 40 of her closest friends and family members, to race toward a future with a cure for the disease.
The Sudbury Rocks Race, Run or Walk for Diabetes is northern Ontario’s largest distance event, featuring a full slate of events for walkers and runners of all abilities, including a one-kilometre run for kids under the age of 12, five and 10 kilometre distances, as well as a half marathon, a full marathon Boston qualifier, and a full marathon team relay.
Our hope is that 10 years down the road, we’ll look back at now and be in awe of where (diabetes) research is at.
Dana Campeau,
Chloe’s mother
This will be Chloe’s third year participating in the Fit’n’Fun one-kilometre run, and like each year before, her family will be right there walking with her.
“The first year we started was the first year Chloe was diagnosed,” Dana Campeau, Chloe’s mother said. “In the past two years, we’ve had about 40 people that come and walk with her. It’s all about Chloe that day.”
Chloe said it makes her happy to have all that support. “Everybody comes out and they walk for her and with her,” Dana said. “I think for Chloe, it’s the one day it’s cool to be diabetic. Her friends really rally around her and everybody’s there for Chloe.”
The Grade One MacLeod Public School student loves playing hockey and baseball. She swims and dances, and this summer she wants to learn how to golf.
“Physical activity is important and it’s something we need to foster in her, because it’s such an important part of managing the disease,” Dana said.
Chloe said running the one-kilometre race is “hard,” but still has her sights set on running the five-kilometre distance in the future.
“It’s more exercise,” she explained.
Chloe’s mother Dana recalled, with ease, the moment her daughter was diagnosed.
“It was a Sunday afternoon. She just started drinking an abnormal amount and peeing. It lasted about three days, and she wet the bed one night, which is another symptom — she typically wasn’t a bedwetter. She was four years old.”
Dana was 36 weeks pregnant at the time. On the Thursday of that same week, she went for a prenatal appointment and mentioned the symptoms to her doctor.
“By the following Wednesday, Chloe was hospitalized. I had no idea what diabetes was. I had just Googled the symptoms. We didn’t realize how involved a disease it was.
“When Chloe was first diagnosed, it was pretty overwhelming,” she continued. “We had a lot to learn.”
Chloe Campeau will run the one-kilometre race, along with about 40 of her friends and family members, like her younger brother Ty. Supplied photo.
In the early days of managing her disease, Chloe had to have four insulin injections each day, from needles she described as “scary.”
“She used to hide when we had to give her needles in the morning and at night,” Chloe’s mother explained. “It used to take two of us to do her injections.”
Now, Chloe uses an insulin pump, which delivers insulin into her body through an infusion site in her stomach or backside and needs to be changed every two or three days.
Chloe understands her disease. She knows “not to have too much junk,” and that she has to check her blood sugar by pricking her finger about 10 times every day.
When she hits a low, Chloe said she feels “shaky and cold,” and when her levels are high, she said her body just feels “weird.”
What the Sudbury Rocks event means to the Campeau family is hope.
“It’s hope that someday there will be a cure,” Dana said. “I know diabetes research has come a long way. Our hope is that 10 years down the road, we’ll look back at now and be in awe of where research is at.”
In the past four years, the Sudbury Rocks event has raised more than $150,000 for the Canadian Diabetes Association. Last year, Chloe’s crew, along with donations from Chloe’s father company — Auburn Industrial Services Ltd. — contributed close to $9,300 as a whole.
Hryciw said the goal of this year’s event is to raise $75,000.
Event participants are also invited to a pasta dinner, May 1, from 5 to 7 p.m., at Respect is Burning Supper Club. Tickets are $25, which includes entertainment by Lively singer-songwriter Angie Nussey.
For more information, or to register or volunteer, visit www.sudburyrocksmarathon.com or contact Mandy Hryciw at 570-1993 ext. 7.
