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Teenagers overcome limitations of diabetes in Virgin Islands scuba camp
July 23, 2004, 7:48 PMMAHO BAY, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) -- Diabetic 16-year-old Sarah Wyss already was in her wetsuit preparing to scuba dive when she started to feel lightheaded and weak, a sign her blood sugar level had dipped too low.
After taking glucose tablets and eating packets of honey, Sarah still couldn't get her levels back to normal, and she says she had to miss the recent training dive in Shelter Island, New York.
But on Friday, she was among eight diabetic teenagers who successfully went diving off the island of St. John after winning a contest for properly dealing with their health condition. They are participating in a weeklong camp where each day, under close supervision, they go diving -- a sport often considered too dangerous for diabetics.
"I'm not intimidated," said Sarah, of Troy, Michigan, who was diagnosed with diabetes in January.
Scuba diving can be dangerous for diabetics because they have to meticulously monitor their blood sugar levels or run the risk of becoming dizzy and disoriented, or fainting, said camp organizer Colleen McCarthy LaPierre.
LaPierre, 36, of Warwick, Rhode Island, won the US$150,000 Ascensia Dream Fund contest, challenging herself and eight teenagers who share her disease to learn to dive.
They all were certified last week in Shelter Island, New York, and are putting the training to use in this U.S. Caribbean territory.
"Because of the high risk level of scuba diving, they had to be kids who are taking good care of their diabetes," LaPierre said Thursday.
Marcus Strickland, 16, of Perrysburg, Ohio, said he had to miss a training dive last week because his blood sugar levels were too high.
"If I (dive) too low in the water, it could be really dangerous," Marcus said. "I just have to make sure I'm watching myself, testing myself."
The teenagers test their sugar levels through pinprick blood tests at least eight times a day while camping in St. John. But for safety reasons, they may test 20 or more times in an hour before a dive, La Pierre said.
Each of the youths was carrying a small kit with crackers and glucose tablets. Insulin, which lowers blood sugar, was carried in a cooler on board their dive boat.
A camp counselor without diabetes was diving with each teenager.
LaPierre said all the youths have Type 1 diabetes, which experts believe may be due to genetic background rather than eating or exercise habits, which are believed are to be factors for Type 2 diabetes.
The Ascensia Dream Fund is sponsored by Bayer Diagnostics, based in Tarrytown, New York.