Ryan Fightmaster was diagnosed with Type
I diabetes when he was only 8 years old.
After years of being told what he couldn’t do, and after one incident
that almost took his life in 2009, Ryan decided he had to do something about
diabetes. In 2010 Ryan started the
Oklahoma Run to Defeat Diabetes.
Diabetes can be a dangerous disease, but Fighmaster has perceivered and
used his disease to spread awareness.
In 2010, as a philanthropy event, Ryan
founded the Oklahoma Run to Defeat Diabetes. He went to President David Boren, a fellow diabetic, with
the idea for the run. Boren told
Ryan that he could use the Gaylord-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium as a finish line
for the run. The course for the run is a USATF certified 5,000 meter flat,
scenic course that winds through The University of Oklahoma campus and finishes
inside the stadium. The run had
around 500 participants in its first year of existence and raised over $25,000
for the Harold Hamm Diabetes Center.
In it’s second year in 2011, the race had over 1,000 participants and
raised nearly $50,000 for the Harold Hamm Center. People were starting to notice, including Bart McDonough,
CEO of Agio Technology, who called on all of OU’s Athletic Department coaches
and staff to race him to the finish line and that he would donate $1000 to the
Oklahoma Diabetes Center for each of the first 10 challengers to beat him in
the race. Fightmaster’s goal to
defeat diabetes has begun, but diabetes still affects many Americans. Diabetes
is a metabolism disorder. A person with diabetes has a condition in which the
quantity of glucose is too elevated because the body either does not produce
enough insulin, produces no insulin, or has cells that do not respond properly
to insulin. There are many different types of diabetes, and 8.3% of the U.S.
population, or 25.8 million people have diabetes according to the American
Diabetes Association. Fightmaster has Type I diabetes. From 2002–2005, 15,600
youth were newly diagnosed with type I diabetes annually. Among youth ages
younger than 10 years, the rate of new cases was 19.7 per 100,000 each year for
type I diabetes. In Type I diabetes, cells produce little
or no insulin. Without enough insulin, glucose builds up in the bloodstream instead
of going into the cells, so the body is unable to use this glucose for energy.
When insulin levels drop too low however,
serious consequences can occur. One example is a diabetic seizure, which Ryan
suffered in the fall of 2009. A diabetic seizure can occur when you become
hypoglycemic, which means blood sugar levels have dropped too low. This happens
if you take too much insulin, exercise vigorously without eating properly, skip
meals, drink too much alcohol or have a metabolic disease. Ryan’s roommates were able to give him
the medicine he needed, just in time before paramedics could get there. This
was the fuel Ryan needed to pursue the Oklahoma Run to Defeat Diabetes.
Fightmaster feels as though he’s made a
big difference in his community and hopes to branch the success outward.
“At
first I wanted this race to just raise awareness for diabetes, but now as it
grows bigger and bigger, I’m hoping that we can make this the staple run for
diabetes awareness not only for the state of Oklahoma, but hopefully by the use
of satellite races, for the nation.”
Fightmaster
is set to schedule the 3rd Oklahoma Run to Defeat Diabetes in the
near future, but is hoping for September of 2012. To find out more about the
Oklahoma Run to Defeat Diabetes you can visit their website at
okdiabtesrun.com.
Ryan
Fightmaster founded and started the Oklahoma Run to Defeat Diabetes in
2010. As a diabetic, Ryan has
focused on raising awareness for diabetes in the state of Oklahoma, and raising
money to help find a cure for this disease.
SLIDESHOW: Tim O'Donnell RUNS: 1:51
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