Phoenix siblings to fight diabetes one mile at a time
Jul 8, 2014, 7:28 AM | Updated: 7:29 am
PHOENIX — A Valley teen and her brother are planning a treacherous hike through the Sierra Nevadas to raise awareness and money for Type 1 diabetes research.
“I have Type 1 diabetes myself,” Haley Maurice said. “I’ve had it for more than half my life.”
The 15-year-old from Phoenix said she hasn’t let the chronic disease slow her down.
“I live with this thing but it doesn’t have to stop me from going out and living my dreams.”
One of those dreams is to raise awareness about the disease. To that end, she and her brother Ethan planned an adventure hike in California.
“We’ll be backpacking 221 miles from Yosemite National Park to Mountain Whitney and we’re raising money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.”
The two call the project Summit Diabetes and they have a goal of raising $1,000 per mile in sponsorships totaling $221,000. Maurice said she and Ethan are traveling alone and are traveling light.
“We have two reply points that we are sending more food to but other than that we’ll be carrying all of our gear on our backs,” Maurice said.
She said that includes her diabetes medicine.
The hike is expected to take three weeks to complete. The siblings leave July 13.
