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Hinsdale boy's family ready to walk to fight diabetes

The Ron Santo Walk to Cure Diabetes was established with kids like Jack McCarter in mind.

The Hinsdale youngster is a 7-year-old athlete facing the daily challenges of diabetes just as Ron Santo did when he patrolled third base for the Cubs from 1960-73.

"He was 2 and a half years old when he was diagnosed," said Jack's mother, Kristy McCarter. "We missed the walk right when he was diagnosed, but then we did the walk starting the following year. So we've done it for several years."

In that time, Jack's team and family has raised $30,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation of Illinois. The last couple of years they have broken the five-figure mark and are aiming for at least that much this year to help fight the disease that affects more than 21 million Americans.

"We have a team that usually has 30 to 40 walkers," Kristy said. "It's called McCarter's Marchers. The first year it was just us. Then we created a team for the next year, and we've had a team for a few years now. It's definitely a nice feeling just having other people out there supporting you and working for the same cause."

That cause, of course, is the JDRF which was founded in 1970. Since its inception, it has provided more than $1 billion for Type 1 diabetes research worldwide. The Illinois chapter alone contributes more than $15 million annually to diabetes research, with the Ron Santo Walk expecting to raise nearly $6 million of that total.

The McCarter family and their team will be walking this Sunday in Lisle, one of five locations hosting the annual event.

The walk originates in the Lisle Community Park, with an 8:30 a.m. check-in time and a 9:30 a.m. start time for the actual walk. The length of the walk is between three and seven miles, depending on the location.

Other locations include Independence Grove in Libertyville, Busse Woods near Schaumburg, the Chicago lakefront at Lawrence Avenue and Centennial Park in Orland Park. Each site has a variety of other family-friendly activities, as well as lunch following the walk.

In some locations, Ron Santo himself sometimes shows up. He would undoubtedly be impressed with the way Jack, a second-grader at Monroe Elementary School in Hinsdale, participates in several sports.

He is currently playing soccer, his favorite sport, and flag football. He also plays baseball and basketball when they are in season, but does not let his diabetes stand in the way of any of these activities.

Jack has been insulin dependent since his diagnosis five years ago, but currently uses an insulin pump along with a continuous glucose monitoring system. The monitoring system has a catheter-like tube that must be inserted under his skin and taped when he is playing sports.

Occasionally, the tube has fallen out during his activity, as no system is perfect.

"He's a trooper," said his father, Jeff McCarter. "He's a very even-keeled kid and has had to deal with stuff like this since he was 2 and a half. Certainly, he probably recognized that going from several insulin shots a day to the pump was favorable.

"Even though there's another thing inserted into him, it does help the quality of his life and I think he recognizes it."

Jack's coaches are aware of his circumstances, and Kristy and Jeff want him to be treated as close to anyone else as possible. Consequently, they do as much work as possible up front to prevent Jack's blood sugar levels from falling too low or elevating too high.

"Our goal is to have him enter a practice or game at the right level, and it's not always possible," Jeff said. "We're probably successful maybe half the time."

"It's just a fine line of balance that we walk," Kristy said. "You get to the point where you always have to be on the ball."

Ron Santo would be proud of the way Jack and his parents have handled his diabetes. With no history of the disease in either family, it has been a learning process for them all, but one that has allowed Jack to stay active and participate in sports as much as any other child his age.

"I'd say he really does love it, and sports really does require extra work on his part and ours," Kristy said.

"It might mean some extra finger pricks, although we don't always rely on the glucose monitoring because of accuracy issues. When he's going out on the field, we kind of want to make sure he's at the right level."

For details on the Ron Santo Walk to Cure Diabetes call (312) 670-0313 or visit www.jdrfillinois.org/walk/walk.html.

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