Diabetes club aim: Aurora twins

By Russ George

Members of the Diabetes Club of Fox Valley are raising funds, to assist Jackson and Elliot Webster in obtaining two Diabetic Alert Dogs (DADs), from the organization, Medical Mutts, in Indianapolis, Ind..

Jackson and Elliot are seven-year-old twins, who live in Aurora, Ill. with parents, Paul and Luma Webster, brother, Jacob, and sister, Denise.

Jackson and Elliot are both Type 1 diabetics. They are one set of only 12 sets of Type 1 diabetic twins in the entire United States. Jackson found out he was a Type 1 diabetic October 27, 2019, then Elliot was diagnosed as a Type 1 diabetic June 17, 2021.

Training a Diabetic Alert Dog (DAD) takes two years from when the handler/trainer begins working with a dog. After approximately 22 months of training, the family and one of the twins will begin getting trained, along with school teachers and classmates.

Then the process starts all over again for the other twin, taking another two years. A total of four years at a cost of $32,000, will eliminate numerous trips to the emergency rooms and save thousands of dollars on hospital stays.

Thursday, Nov. 10, Ernie Jones, treasurer of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 14, presented a grant check for $3,000 to Russ George, president of the Diabetes Club of Fox Valley, at the Club’s monthly meeting, to be deposited in the Club’s Jerry Youngren Diabetic Alert Dog Memorial Fund.

Jerry Youngren was diagnosed with Juvenile Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 11, lived with diabetes for almost 70 years. Jerry managed his diabetes with a true dedication to diet and exercise, a daily approach, and never compromised. He was presented with the Eli Lilly Award for his length of years living with Type 1 Diabetes.

Thanks to Barb Youngren, wife of Jerry Youngren, and family, for establishing the Jerry Youngren Diabetic Alert Dog Fund through the Diabetes Club of Fox Valley, to help diabetics in the Fox Valley area to obtain Diabetic Alert Dogs (DADs).

Giving Tuesday will be November 29, and donors may consider making a donation to the Diabetes Club of Fox Valley, to aid the Webster twins in obtaining the Diabetic Alert Dogs (DADs).

Mail tax deductible donations to: Diabetes Club of Fox Valley, P.O. Box 88, North Aurora, IL 60542.

For questions, or wish to join the DCFV, please send an Email: Diabetesclubfv@gmail.com.

— Diabetes Club of Fox Valley