Benefit ride, Diabetes Day set for Saturday

There will be a benefit ride and event this Saturday with a goal of raising money to buy a diabetes alert dog for an Ironton boy.

David Jenkins, a six-year-old kindergartner at Sugar Creek Christian Academy was diagnosed with Type I diabetes when he was just 3 years old.

“He probably doesn’t even remember a life without diabetes, bless his heart,” said his mother, Cheryl Jenkins.

Type I diabetes is an autoimmune disease. David’s pancreas quit producing insulin and without insulin, he could die because the body doesn’t regulate sugar like it needs to. So he has to monitor his blood sugar so it doesn’t go too high or too low.

“He’s hypoglycemic unaware, so he could die because he doesn’t always know when his blood sugar goes low,” Jenkins said. “So he could die from that.

Sometimes, he goes high because the liver kicks out glucose. And sometimes it kicks out too much.”

That’s where the service dog comes in. A diabetic alert dog is trained to smell when its owner’s blood sugar gets too high or low so the owner can get their blood sugar level back to a healthy level. Low and high blood sugar levels release chemicals in the body that have a distinct odor that is undetectable by humans but dogs can smell it. They can alert their owner about 30 minutes before it gets dangerous.

“That gives us time to prepare,” Jenkins said.

The dog, named Rocky, is already picked out from Diabetes Alert Dogs of America.

It costs about $15,000 for a trained dog and people in the community are trying to raise money. Called Team David for Doggone Diabetes, they have already had several events to raise funds.

“Wonderful, wonderful, heaven-sent people,” Jenkins said.

The benefit ride will start at Pick ‘n Save in the Ironton Hills Plaza. Registration is at 10:30 a.m.-noon. The ride begins at noon. The run goes out Route 93 to Oak Hill to Route 223 with a stop at the Swamps, where there are four door prizes. From there, they follow Route 141 to Myer’s FastLane in Arabia, where there is a Diabetes Day from 1-5 p.m.

“It’s all very family friendly,” Jenkins said. “There are fun things to do and the whole event is kid friendly. At Myer’s there will be inflatables, there will be a car show, prizes, games, foods, auctions and live music.”