First-grader walking for a cure
Published: October 22, 2005
Ryan Moran is a 7-year-old ball of energy.
Recently, he was hopping across the living room of his parents’ Periwinkle Drive house, wearing a pair of sweatpants and a New York Jets T-shirt, and pretending to hit home runs for his favorite baseball team, the New York Mets.
At first glance the Monmouth Junction School first-grader appears to be an average child.
But that is not the case.
“He was diagnosed with Type 1 juvenile diabetes when he was 13 months old,” said Ryan’s mother, Cindy Moran. “It was a complete shock and we were surprised. No one in our family has diabetes.”
He and his family are not the sit-down-and-live-with-it type. They are the proactive-get-involved type, and they are trying to raise money to fund research on juvenile diabetes.
With his family right beside him, Ryan, is going to walk in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation fundraising walk on Oct. 30 at Rutgers University’s Cook College. His friends and family will join him as Team Ryan Moran, and walk the five miles around the agricultural school of Rutgers University.
“The first year I did it alone and raised $10,000,” Ms. Moran said. “The second year we did it as a family and then Ryan expressed interest in starting a team.”
Now, with a few dozen friends and family, Ryan, along with his sister, Megan Moran; his father, Kevin Moran; and his mother will once again form a sea of tie-dye as they walk around the campus.
Ryan was excited on Friday as he talked about the walk, sitting between his mother and father on their living room couch. He left the room several times to go watch sports highlights on ESPN.
“Most kids, when they wake up they put on cartoons,” Mr. Moran said. “Not Ryan. He puts on 44, MSG, or he puts on Sportscenter.”
The first-grader also has a penchant for classic rock ‘n’ roll, specifically The Beatles.
“We went to the Paul McCartney show last week at the Wachovia Center,” Mr. Moran said. “He loved it. Before we went he grabbed his glove and ball and a football to throw around before we went in.”
Keeping active is something that comes natural to Ryan, Mr. Moran said.
“If he wasn’t so active I would be worried that he wasn’t living life to the fullest,” Mr. Moran.
Ryan’s plays baseball year-round and started playing soccer in September, scoring seven goals in his debut just a few weeks ago.
There are differences between Ryan’s day and that of other first-graders. For instance, Ryan takes several blood tests to measure his glucose levels.
“He gets tested six times a day,” Ms. Moran said. “After breakfast, lunch and dinner, before bed, at midnight and at 3 a.m. You do that by pricking his finger, and you’d be amazed but he sleeps right through it.”
Ms. Moran said she his hoping for the day when there will be no need to draw blood to get glucose counts. Instead of glucose injections, Ryan is on a pump that pushes the glucose into his bloodstream. The pump is the size of a handheld tape player and rests in a pouch that Ryan wears at his waist.
Ryan’s competitive nature even shines when it comes to the fundraising for the walk. Ryan said he is hoping to beat last year’s $7,000 mark.
“I want to raise $10,000,” Ryan exclaimed.
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