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2 Boca Teens Lobby in D.C for Stem-Cell Research
By Andrea Nurko
The Palm Beach Post
22 June 2005
1. Samantha Stevens (mug)
2. Zach Ullman (mug)
WASHINGTON
Two Boca Raton teens living with juvenile diabetes urged members of Congress Tuesday to support stem-cell research, which they said could lead to a cure for their disease.
Samantha Stevens, 15, and Zach Ullman, 17, were among 150 other children who have juvenile diabetes who lobbied for research money. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation sponsored the event.
Juvenile diabetes patients' pancreatic cells fail to produce insulin, which regulates the body's blood sugar. Medical experts are uncertain what causes juvenile diabetes, and there is no known cure. More than 1.3 million Americans live with the disease.
The students met with Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Delray Beach, and discussed the issue with aides of Sens. Mel Martinez, a Republican, and Bill Nelson, a Democrat. Martinez is the only one of the three who opposes stem-cell research. Political and ethical debates pivot on the possible use of embryonic stem cells.
"We emphasized how we want to compromise, how we want to work with them, but we want our cure," Stevens said of the visit to Martinez's office. "It's not a political issue. It's not a moral issue. We just want our cure."
Earlier in the day, several children with diabetes joined the group's international chairwoman, actress Mary Tyler Moore, in testifying before a Senate panel to request more federal funding for research and to expand stem-cell research laws. The Boca teens attended the hearing but did not testify.
"It's a pain to live with because it affects everything in your life," said Ullman, who was diagnosed with diabetes when he was 15 months old.
Ullman, who will be a senior at Atlantic High School in Delray Beach, wears an insulin pump, which attaches to the side of his stomach. Ullman described it as "another appendage" that delivers insulin to his bloodstream. He relies on the device to live.
"Our goal for Zach is to live as normally as possible, though it's not a normal life," said his mother, Ellen.
Stevens, who will be a junior at Pine Crest High School in Fort Lauderdale in the fall, recently replaced her insulin pump with insulin injections, which she gives herself several times a day with a syringe. She said she stopped using the pump on prom night because she had no place to hide the tubes while wearing her dress.
"Injections are a lot less cumbersome than carrying a box with you," Stevens said. "I felt free."
Ullman said his mother has lost nights of sleep worrying his blood sugar would drop dangerously low and cause seizures.
"I want people to know diabetes is a destructive disease, and we have the potential now to find a cure," Ellen Ullman said. "We cannot throw away this potential."
- anurko@coxnews.com
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