Rogers Student Will Be Rhode Island's Voice for Juvenile Diabetes

Just like his friends do every day, Dylan Burke gets up and goes to school at  He goes to classes, gets involved in after-school activities, and plays football and baseball. But the similarities with his peers stop when they enter the lunch room.

Burke can't splurge on an ice cream or a plateful of pizza like most everyone else. He has juvenile diabetes, and the 15-year-old sophomore frequently has to watch what he eats to make sure his blood sugar doesn't spike or get too low. While living with diabetes is a daily challenge, Burke sees his diagnosis as a directive to raise awareness and help find a cure. In fact, he'll be taking his message to Washington D.C. this summer when he represents Rhode Island at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Children's Congress.

Burke was chosen from more than 1,200 applicants with the disease to travel to the nation's capital to meet with Congressmen and women and advocate for continued funding juvenile diabetes research. In his essay that made him stand out the from hundreds of other applicants, Burke recounted the day he found out he had Type I diabetes and how it “change[d] his life forever.”

Today, he keeps his diabetes under control with an insulin pump, but six and a half years ago, he began the daily routine of pricking his finger to test his blood sugar levels.

“A cure represents peace of mind; a relief from the horrible complications of diabetes as well as the financial strains that a chronic disease has on our family,” Burke wrote. “Most importantly, a cure for me will eliminate the fear of complications.”

Burke's father also has diabetes and has had to undergo heart bypass surgery and a kidney transplant.

Burke said normal things, like eating a slice of pizza or having a soda, are things that he has to think twice about, and that many students don't know what it's like to have to worry about the ways diabetes affects a teenager's day-to-day activities.

In his letter, Burke said that aside from his personal reasons for wanting to find a cure, the United States Congress has a responsibility to do so.

The JDRF Children's Congress is not Burke's only foray into juvenile diabetes activism and advocacy. He participated in “Bags of Hope” by helping deliver care packages to families with newly diagnosed diabetics. He's also participated in the annual “Walk for a Cure,” and works as a counselor-in-training for Camp Surefire in Coventry. Camp Surefire is a camp for children with diabetes. Burke worked there as a counselor in training over the summer and plans to return this year. By setting a good example on how to manage his diabetes, he hopes to promote awareness about the importance of controlling the disease, he said.

Burke said he was excited, but a bit nervous, about representing Rhode Island in Washington. As a representative, he has to create a scrapbook that represents his life living with diabetes. He'll also meet with Rhode Island Congress members in the coming months.

The Children's Congress takes place every other year since 1999. Children age four to 17 from all 50 states will meet with top officials in Washington from June 20 to 22 this summer.

Burke's words were powerful enough to convince the selection board. Now, he said he hopes he can be a voice of advocacy and action in June.