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Living with diabetes: One teenager’s story
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Posted on Nov 03 2008
At one point, Zach Babauta said his struggle with diabetes got so bad that he wanted to take his own life.
At yesterday’s Diabetes Awareness Month proclamation, Babauta shared his story of living with the illness.
“Most girls avoided me because they thought it was a disease,” he said. “One kid said you can’t have kids, so don’t even try.”
At that point, Babauta said tearing up, “I started to doubt myself and told myself I just want to commit suicide.”
Then one day, he said, a friend told him about a basketball team. Babauta joined and that is where he met George Cruz, chair of the Commonwealth Diabetes Coalition and president and CEO of Marianas Health Services, Inc.
“He helped me change my life,” he said.
Babauta said he has done things that many people, including family and friends, never thought he could do, such as graduating high school and going to college. But one thing he has still not been able to do is get into the Marines, he said, but that will not stop him from looking forward.
“My name is Zachary Babauta, and I am a diabetic. And I will never give up,” he told the audience.
Babauta is one of 3,500 in the CNMI with diabetes, although that number only accounts for the people who seek treatment. Health officials said they believe the number is actually higher.
Public Health Secretary Joseph Kevin Villagomez said prevention and awareness are important to combat the disease.
Diabetes Awareness Month is coupled with Home Health Care Month, a pairing that fits well, he said.
“The great thing about coupling the two is that taking care of a diabetic is a daily thing,” he said, adding that those in the health care industry are experienced at taking care of diabetic patients.
“Diabetes is not an individual disease,” he said. “It’s a family disease, and therefore it becomes a community disease.”
