Hundreds walk to stop diabetes

Nearly 1,000 people stepped out to stop diabetes Saturday morning. The annual “Step Out” walk, hosted by the American Diabetes Association, is an annual event to raise awareness and education about the disease. “Living with diabetes isn’t just a one person thing. It takes the support of your entire family,” Lily Suarez said. Suarez is a type 1 diabetic. She was diagnosed with the disease when she was just 11 years old. The Step Out walk was the Suarez family’s first 5k run in which they had ever participated. It was a run motivated by Lily Suaez’s battle with diabetes. Doctors say more than 1.4 million Americans contract the disease each year. “Diabetes unfortunately is growing, and if present trends continue, one in three people, one in three, will have diabetes by the year 2050,” said Larissa Roman, an Area Executive Director for the American Diabetes Association. And that’s why ADA hosts the Step Out walk every year. “It’s really awesome to see that a lot of people share the same experience and everyone’s really trying to support each other raising money for the cause,” Miriam Suarez said. It’s a cause that many hope will find a cure.