Living Well With Diabetes 2006
Featured Will Cross and Award Winners
Humphreys Diabetes Center's annual "Living Well With Diabetes" event recognizes people who are role models for Idahoans living with diabetes. On Thursday, November 9, 2006, the event featured nine local award winners and national expedition leader Will Cross.
Will Cross knows something about overcoming physical obstacles and challenges. Cross has climbed the highest mountain on each of the seven continents and trekked to the North and South Poles. In May of 2006, after a two-month-long climb, he reached the highest peak of Mount Everest. And he accomplished these physical feats while balancing insulin injections, diet and exercise for his type 1 diabetes.
Cross, 39, a former high school principal and the father of six, has had diabetes since he was nine. "I didn't think about diabetes as a limiting factor," he told Diabetes Forecast magazine from his Everest base camp. He has battled record-breaking winds, constant freezing temperature and dangerous ice to reach the summits of Everest in Nepal, Denali in Alaska, Vinson in Antarctica, Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Aconcagua in Argentina, Kosciuski in Australia, and Elbrus in Russia, as well as the Matterhorn, Mt. Bland, and Grand Teton.
An award-winning speaker, his message was, "We all have mountains to climb: big things we want to accomplish in life." Sometimes it takes multiple attempts to reach the top and succeed.
At the November 9 event, Humphreys Diabetes Center Board President Morgan Masner presented Living Well with Diabetes awards to local people who lead active, healthy lives with diabetes. The award winners included 4-year-old Alex Black of Mountain Home, 16-year-old Serena Stephens of Boise, and Rhonda Wolfrum of Boise. Two local men, Jim Bonner and Fred Riggers, received medals for living more than 50 years each with insulin-dependent diabetes.
The event also recognized volunteers and health professionals who support living well with diabetes. The Diabetes Ride Committee received the Maxine Paulson Volunteer of the Year award. Mary Jane Bryant and Dr. Laura Tirrell were recognized as health professionals. Bob Rice and Northwestern Mutual Financial Network were honored as supporters of Humphreys.
Humphreys Diabetes Center is a not-for-profit community program, affiliated with Saint Alphonsus and St. Luke's Regional Medical Centers.
