Newfoundland teen with diabetes is a 'rock star' with fundraising effort
Brett Samson has raised $40K to help people with diabetes and he's not done yet
Brett Samson's life is like that of many other 13-year-olds. He loves to play sports, spends as much time on his bike as he does on his pillow, and regularly takes the dog for a walk.
His work on his hobby farm with his parents accounts for a lot of spare time too, as he raises chickens and turkeys and grows an abundance of vegetables.
However unlike many other teens his age, Brett was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in October of 2020 when he was eight, and has to work every day to manage the disease.
"As soon as I came out of the hospital, we didn't know what to do. We were still new to it. But we all had to buckle down and figure it out. We got through it," Brett told CBC News.
Soon after his diagnoses, his family realized their insurance coverage meant they wouldn't have to go far out of pocket to address Brett's new medical needs. However, it also made them realize others were not as fortunate.
"It's a lot easier to manage your diabetes if you have these different medical supplies," Brett said. "If you don't, you have to prick your finger and take needles all the time."
As a result, he launched Brett's Stand for Diabetes to support people in Newfoundland and Labrador with diabetes access digital continuous glucose monitoring devices and other diabetic medical supplies.
He organizes an annual run and bike ride for charity, and gives the proceeds of his vegetables sales to the cause. Since his diagnosis almost five years ago, Brett has raised about $40,000.
Brett's Stand for Diabetes has partnered with the Glenn's Helping Hand, a Mount Pearl-based foundation that provides financial assistance for the treatment of diabetes to low-income individuals.
His parents Corey and Stephanie also volunteer on Glenn's Helping Hand's board.
"We wanted to do something that we enjoyed, which was farming and mountain biking and all that," Corey Samson said.
Stephanie Samson recalls how the initial shocks of her son's diabetes diagnosis quickly turned to figuring out ways their family could help others. She says every year Brett's fundraising continues to get busier.
"It's a little more rewarding for us when we know that what we're doing, every penny of this is being spent on some type of supplies to help somebody who doesn't have the money to buy it themselves," she said.
A partnership with Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services and Glenn's Helping Hand last year put about 100 diabetes kits into schools.
"Brett wears a backpack with all of his supplies in it, but there could be a day that he could forget it on the step, or he might forget it on the bus. Same thing with all these students," said Stephanie Samson.
"So these kits are kept in the office of the school in case the child needs any supplies out of it."
The advocacy Brett is doing for other people with diabetes is something his parents are proud of.
"I feel like if it was me that was diagnosed, I'd be a crooked old man and I'd be laid on the couch and crooked and mad at the world," Corey Samson said. "But he's embraced it… He's a rock star."
Brett is just happy to do his part to help others.
"It helps us to be together and helps us become better as a family," he said.
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