Thank you for visiting my fundraising page! I’m just one of many running toward a cure for Type One Diabetes (T1D) with the Chicago Diabetes Project, and I'd love to share a bit of my journey living first alongside it, and now with it.

Type One Diabetes has been a part of my life since I was five years old, starting with my younger brother, Will, who many of you know and love. He was diagnosed at age two, just as our family was moving back to Los Angeles. My mom, noticing symptoms that sounded a lot like what she’d read about Nick Jonas facing (obviously in People mag), realized Will was showing signs of T1D—and that’s when T1D became the center of our family’s life.

Fast forward 8 years: I’m 13, just back from a three-week trip visiting friends in LA, and feeling exhausted and moody (ever heard of puberty?). But my tiredness was different, overwhelming. I brushed it off as travel fatigue and absolutely protested my parent's attempts to check my blood glucose. But as we hit the road for vacation, I physically could not keep my eyes open and was consuming an amount of water which could have disrupted the supply chain demands of a small country. Hours later, we pulled up to an urgent care in rural Wisconsin. I, too, was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes. The second Timmons child to receive this diagnosis. Although shocking, it also felt oddly familiar—I already knew what to expect, what to do. Life with T1D was nothing new; it was just mine now.

Still, life with T1D is far from easy. Over the years, I've faced more ups and downs than I can count as I manage blood glucose ranges that swing between 40 and 400. It never truly gets easier, but it has become manageable. Through it all, I’ve gained a profound appreciation for my body and everything it can do.

I’m running for many reasons: for myself, for Will—one of my best friends—for my incredible mom, Karen, who spent countless nights monitoring blood sugars, and for my dad, Bill, who has overnighted insulin to me at the shockingly egregious UPS rate. I’m running for my friends who keep snacks in their cars for me, my family who showed up at the hospital, everyone who has sat with me through a bad low, and my teachers, coaches, and mentors who have supported me. Most importantly, I’m running for a cure for Type One Diabetes.

Thank you for taking the time to read not only my story but one shared by countless other families. A special shout out to the Chicago Diabetes Project who does incredible research towards advancing a cure in my own city. Your support means the world to me. I’m so grateful for each and every one of you! 

My Mom Karen, Me (T1D) , Will (T1D), My Dad Bill