The COVID-19 pandemic marked “a new normal” for so many of us around the world, but for Kate Hall-Harnden, Maine, who lives with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D), it led to disappointed dreams of the Summer Olympics in Reach Tokyo. This could be a heartbreaking story if this long jumper champion didn’t turn an unfortunate injury into an inspiration to start a new nonprofit to help people with diabetes (PWD) in need.
With the Olympics in Japan taking place from July 23 to August 8, 2021, Hall-Harnden recently spoke to DiabetesMine over the phone about how she will watch from home after tearing a ligament tear in her left knee in January. It’s tough, but the 24-year-old has her eyes on the future. She still hopes to one day reach the highest level of athleticism, even if she brings her passion to strengthening diabetes.
She and her husband founded the DiaStrong Foundation, whose goal is to provide financial support, fitness and exercise training programs to individuals and research organizations for people with disabilities who want to improve their exercise and diabetes management.
Interestingly, for Hall-Harnden, athletics and T1D came into her life at the same time: when she was 10 years old in 2007.
“I think if I hadn’t developed diabetes at this young age and had to work harder and take care of my body, I don’t know if I would have been as successful in my career.” She said DiabetesMine. “I attribute some of my work ethic and success to being diagnosed with Type 1 when I was 10 years old.”
She had been involved in organized sports since she was 6 years old, but discovered running a few years later.
“From the first day of training I fell in love with the sport and knew that it would be my sport,” she recalls. “From then on I got better and better every year and achieved the goals that I had set for myself in my personal notebook, which I have kept with my goals and records since I was 10 years old.”
Her diagnosis of T1D came just months after starting the new sport.
First, the family doctor wrote down Hall’s health concerns up to a growth spurt. But her family googled the symptoms and the top search result was “Type 1 Diabetes”. You bought a measuring device in the store and got a “very high” result. There was no family history, but they knew more was wrong. They went to the local hospital where Hall-Harnden checked in with high glucose in the 500s and got the T1D diagnosis.
Hall remembers taking the syringe from the nurse to give herself her first insulin injection. Her mother was upset, but the 10-year-old reassured her mother. “I knew everything would be fine and I told her to stop crying. She felt better and it reassured her that I knew it would be okay. “
At first she was afraid that this condition would prevent her from doing the things she loves, especially exercise. The doctor first told her that she would have to sit out soccer games until she got used to dealing with her condition.
“That was really difficult for me. I remember sitting on the sidelines and asking myself, ‘Why do I have to do this?’ ”She said. “But over time it has motivated me not to be on the sidelines. It was a crucial moment that motivated me so that nothing stood in the way of diabetes. “
Now she believes that the combination of T1D and her love of exercise created the conditions for success of her entire life.
Your demeanor paid off.
She went on to set the national high school record for the long jump as a high school graduate in 2015, jump an impressive 22 feet outdoors, and break the high school record for that event in athletics. She became a two-time NCAA Division I champion and was once the number 6 American long jumper.
Hall-Harnden says she started on an insulin pen in her early years of competition. Then, between the ages of 11 and 15, she used a peristaltic insulin pump. However, she found it difficult to stay connected to her peristaltic pump and often disconnected it during an entire event. That created competitive problems because her blood sugar would soar and she was ended up on ketones in her 300s or 400s (which can lead to dangerous diabetic ketoacidosis).
“Fear is widespread,” she said. “I wasn’t sure what to do and I thought that might keep me from making tracks.”
After talking to her diabetes care team, she discovered the tubeless Omnipod patch pump, which could allow her to better manage her diabetes during the competition.
At about the same time, she began to compete at a higher level in an effort to move closer to the goal of reaching the Olmypics.
Her parents didn’t necessarily think that was realistic at the time, but she pushed forward and they encouraged and supported her.
While in college, she continued to make track and field headlines at the University of Oregon and Texas A&M University, and reached the 2016 US Olympic Trials finals where she finished 10th. In 2017 she was the 18th best long jumper in the world.
Her best year was in 2019 after returning to school in Maine and training with a longtime coach who was her trainer at a young age. Not only did she achieve her goal of consistently jumping 22 feet, Hall-Harnden says her diabetes management was “spot on”.
Everything seemed to be on track to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics; In the US, she finished second in the long jump based on her indoor grade.
But then the COVID-19 pandemic struck and that resulted in the Summer Games being postponed to July 2021.
Her local training facilities have been closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, but Hall-Harnden says she used the time to train differently and move closer to her dreams. Even a pandemic wouldn’t stop them from reaching that level of competition, she told herself.
Then another, even more devastating blow occurred.
In early 2021, just a week before she expected to start the Olympic qualifying competition, the unthinkable happened. It was the last workout before qualifying, and a routine workout at their pandemic-adapted gym (as their regular gym was still closed due to COVID-19 restrictions) resulted in a serious injury. She ran at high speed and jumped on a box for a box jump exercise, but went too far and landed on the other edge of that box; it tipped over and she braced herself for the fall by stretching out her left leg. She overextended and fell to the floor with a sharp pain in her knee.
Tests and an MRI showed it was a complete left cruciate ligament tear, which meant her dreams of attending the 2020-21 Olympics would not be possible.
“I was so devastated,” she said. “There are good days and bad days when you process everything and I don’t think I’ll ever get over them. But I take things one day at a time, trying to grow and work hard. It’s a tough time and I know I’ll come back from it. “
Her operation in early February went smoothly and she expects to be back in full form for competition by January, although she has her sights set on 2022 to get back to top athletic levels.
Her short-term goal: to be with the US team on the way to the 3-day World Indoor Championships in Serbia in 2022.
After that, the 2024 Summer Olympics are the long-term goal.
Hall-Harnden says she saw the Olympics and plans to see the long jump, even though she isn’t sure she should do it for her mental health. But she just can’t stay away.
“Watching it might motivate me to keep working hard to get back as soon as possible,” she said. “It will be hard to see, but it will motivate me even more.”
In addition to recovering and competing, Hall-Harnden used the circumstances in 2020 and 2021 to make two more positive changes in her life.
First she got married! She and her husband Tyler had originally planned to get married after the Olympic qualifying events in May 2021, but with the postponement of the COVID-19 pandemic, they decided to tie the knot in October 2020.
Hall-Harnden and her new husband also started a diabetes nonprofit called the DiaStrong Foundation.
After her injury, Hall-Harnden began speaking to her training partner, Kendall Spencer, an attorney and former NCAA long jump champion who had moved to Portland, ME. He suggested thinking beyond her career, and after talking to her husband, an idea occurred to her.
“I was always asked, ‘What are you doing after your career?’ But I never really had an answer other than vague “coaching or advice” in athletics. I knew I wanted to do something about diabetes counseling too, and now this is a way to bring it all together. “
As she grew up, she gave motivational speeches at diabetes events for the omnipod manufacturer Insulet and testified before a committee of the US Senate at the JDRF Children’s Congress. Now she channels that passion for advocacy into the DiaStrong Foundation, which received non-profit status 501 (c) (3) in April 2021 and started in early summer.
The overall goal is to empower other people with disabilities to make their dreams come true with diabetes in the form of financial support when needed, as well as a diabetes camp and personal training for young athletes with diabetes.
First, Hall-Harnden wants the DiaStrong Foundation to be a go-to place for people to learn more about thriving with diabetes and to afford the supplies they need. They have planned to provide grants for financial assistance in July 2021 and these details are currently being finalized. You can find out more about their scholarships and grants here.
The organization will host two camps in Maine in mid-2021 – a sports agility camp specifically for athletes with diabetes between the ages of 12 and 25, and another more general camp for people with disabilities of all ages who just want to be in better shape.
Their workout partner Spencer, who also has a personal diabetes connection through his brother, allows them to use the field behind his Portland, ME gym. Hall-Harnden is in charge of diabetes management and the athletic training side of the camps.
Finally, there is hope for more age-specific camps and one for younger children, as well as online virtual training – something else that has become possible due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
One of their first customers is a 50 year old T1D who wants to compete and lives outside of Maine. Therefore, they advise and train him in a virtual course.
Hall-Harnden says her community service occupies most of her life, giving her a more positive outlook as she continues her recovery and rehabilitation.
“Everything happens for a reason, and this is where I should be, what I do,” she said.
source https://outdoorsportsnews.com/dashed-olympic-hopes-lead-to-new-diabetes-nonprofit/
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