Pocono News Section

Young Girl Seeks Diabetes Cure

Young Girl Seeks Diabetes Cure - Tuesday, May 20, 2008 at 4:32PM EST

Reported by: Laurie Monteforte
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 @ 04:32pm EST
POLK TOWNSHIP - A young girl in the Poconos has taken on a big job. She wants to cure a disease.

Shaelyn West is not your typical fifth grader. For one thing, she likes math class. She remarked, "I love fractions."

She's also already picked a career. When she gets out of school, she wants to train dolphins. But before she gets to that, she has another not-so-typical goal. She wants to cure diabetes.

"Having diabetes isn't all that fun and I really want to get a cure for it," she said.

Doctors diagnosed Shaelyn with the disease when she was three years old.

Her father Dana West said, "When your child is diagnosed, you panic and you think of just strange things."

But doctors told him Shaelyn could live a normal life.

Well, fairly normal.

She has to stay connected to an insulin pump. And she has to check in with the nurse after she eats at school. "It really stinks having to go to the nurse after you eat everything, anything," she complained.

Shaelyn wants to help other kids like herself so she's promoting a diabetes walk. It will be June first at Stroudsburg High School.

"The goal is to see a cure in her lifetime and technology and research shows that that's possible so that's what we work for," said Dana.

Dad and daughter collect donations for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. Every time someone donates a dollar, they stick a paper sneaker with that person's name in the hall.

The students and staff at Pleasant Valley Middle School bought more than 3,800 sneakers. You can see them in every hallway.

Shaelyn is ready for doctors to find a cure, so she can follow her dream to work with animals and leave that insulin pump behind.

If you would like to donate, you can write a check to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Mail it to:
Pleasant Valley Middle School
C/O Dana West
Route 115, Brodheadsville, PA 18322