Ice cream or yogurt? Regular or diet soda? These may seem like simple choices at your dinner table—unless you’re one of nearly 18 million Americans living with diabetes today.
People with diabetes face daily challenges. To stay healthy, they must monitor their blood sugar levels, maintain a balanced diet, and exercise regularly. Some also require insulin to survive.
To honor those who rise above these challenges, Eli Lilly and Company established the LillyforLife Achievement Award in 2002. The award recognizes the inspiring successes of people living with diabetes across all age groups.
Recipients don’t need to be famous or well-known; they can be everyday individuals who have achieved or are striving for extraordinary personal success.
This year, Lilly has expanded the program to include not only people with diabetes but also anyone impacted by the condition or involved in the diabetes community.
Submission categories include: patients age 18 and over; patients age 17 and under; healthcare professionals; caretakers or spouses; and journalists.
A panel of judges will select one winner from each category to receive this special award. Applicants may apply for only one category. Nominations, either self-submitted or from peers, are accepted through August 30, 2004.
Last year, Rick Largent received the inaugural LillyforLife Achievement Award. Largent has lived with type 1 diabetes for 25 years and has faced extraordinary challenges beyond his diagnosis. An accident left him quadriplegic, and he later lost his 19-year-old daughter to cancer.
At one point, Largent neglected his blood sugar control, risking serious diabetes complications. But after beginning use of an insulin pump, he regained control over his health.
Since then, Largent has traveled across the country sharing his story and teaching others that managing diabetes well makes anything possible. He has also visited Capitol Hill to educate policymakers about the challenges faced by those living with both diabetes and disabilities.
Largent’s resilience in overcoming diabetes and quadriplegia embodies the spirit of the LillyforLife Achievement Award. As many living with diabetes know, with proper management, there’s no reason you can’t achieve your goals.
