A Guest Post by Stephanie Libhart

Leah was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) when she was three years old. Because we, her parents, did not know the signs of T1D, we almost lost her. Luckily her grandfather, a respiratory therapist, recognized the sweet smell on her breath. He saved her life. Had she not made it to the emergency room that night, she would not have woken up the next day.

Only three weeks after her diagnosis, Leah had enough of other people pricking her fingers with a needle 8-10 times a day. A week before she turned four years old, she declared that she’d be testing her own blood sugar from that point on, and she has.

Now, three years after her diagnosis, Leah packs her own lunch for school with a digital food scale and a calculator. She is a wiz at math and understands exactly how her pancreas works differently than her friends’. Much like other kids, she plays on a soccer team, swims all summer long and loves watching Notre Dame football.

But, in many ways, she’s not like other kids. Her life depends on an insulin pump, a physical reminder that she lives with a chronic disease that will never go away. Fighting diabetes is a minute-byminute battle and there is no room for error. Sometimes a simple cold or stomach flu lands her in the emergency room. She never, never gets a day off.

Despite these challenges, Leah’s abundant kindness and inner-strength inspire all who know her. She starts each day saying, “Diabetes won’t stop me from doing anything.”

Leah’s parents, Stephen and Stephanie Libhart, would like all who read Leah’s story to educate themselves about the symptoms of T1D so that other parents will be empowered to seek medical attention for their children exhibiting signs of T1D as soon as possible.