By Halle Nottage
When Collyn Burkett’s dog Ella fell into the Elwha River last month, he knew he had to spring into action.
In a heroic effort to save his dog, he jumped in after in her with no regard for safety and health.
As soon as he hit the water, he was caught up in the swift current, strong enough to pull both his shoes and pants off, which dragged him about 100 yards downstream until he was finally able to cling to a log.
“I honestly don’t know how I was able to pull myself out because I felt like I was going to pass out and at this point my whole body was completely numb so I couldn’t do anything.
I felt completely weak,”said Burkett. Thankfully he was rescued within half and hour of his falling into the river, and taken to Olympic Medical Center where he was diagnosed with hypothermia and pneumonia.
For the past six months Burkett had been losing weight at an alarming rate, with his attitude and behaviors changing drastically too.
He had lost around 30 pounds, and according to his teammates and parents had become quite lethargic and depressed. But there was no true explanation for any of it.
However, while getting blood work done at the hospital during his recovery, it was discovered that his blood sugar was at 800 mg/dL which is absurdly high compared to normal blood sugar levels, which rest at less than 100 mg/dL.
This led Burkett to be diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, which could have potentially killed him had it continued to go undetected.
Despite his near death experience at the waters of the Elwha, it was considered by Burkett himself, and his parents to be his saving grace as without it he most likely would have lost his life to the diabetes.
Sadly, Burkett will not be returning to Peninsula College next year as a student or a soccer player, rather he will be taking time at home to adjust to his new lifestyle as well as just to enjoy time with his family.
Currently in America, Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death, resulting in around 79,535 deaths a year which is more deaths than AIDS and Breast Cancer combined according to Medical News Today.
Despite the high number of cases each year, insulin prices continue to become more and more expensive, with prices doubling between the years 2012 and 2016 alone according to Kaiser Health News.
This has led many diagnosed with diabetes to pass up on treatment as they cannot afford it, which has resulted in a higher number of deaths.
Currently as individuals there are very few things we can do to stand up to corporations, but one of the things we can do is sign the petition “Stand Up for Affordable Insulin” presented by the American Diabetes Association. This petition can be found at https://makeinsulinaffordable.org.