In an earlier blog post we introduced the C4WM: National Relay and Team Cyclebetes rider Aryssah Stankevitsch.

Aryssah had just embarked on a cross-country journey to raise $15,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.  Having been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes only 2 years earlier, a long-distance athletic event was a formidable undertaking. It took the Relay just 13 days to reach Toronto from Vancouver for a mid-point media event. Here we were finally able to meet Aryssah face-to-face to find out what drove her to spend a month in the saddle, to raise money, and speak out about her experience as a diabetic.

“I want to be worth imitating.  I believe that with any sort of ailment that you’ve had, you can fight a battle a lot harder when you’re going uphill than when you’re on flat terrain.”

Pat Com: How long have you been a Diabetic? Aryssah: I was diagnosed when I was 19. I’m 21 now so I’ve been living with it for 2 years. I had been hypoglycemic before (which means low blood sugars), so I would load up on sugars before I did athletic activities. I guess my doctor didn’t take it as a warning sign of diabetes as no one else [...] continue the story