Quincey Jackson was only 14 months old when he started having unusual health problems.

It was a Sunday in January, Quincey’s mother said, when it all started happening. Little Quincey was having troubles breathing.

“I tried not to be that freak-out mom,” Daphne Sierra, a 2012 Wichita State graduate, said. “And then it got really bad.”

The following Saturday morning, Quincey woke up not wanting to eat. 

“Immediately I was like, ‘something’s wrong,” she said.

Sierra and her husband took their son to Wesley Medical Center expecting pneumonia, asthma or bronchitis. But the symptoms started to look more severe when the doctors began checking for heart conditions. The nurses noticed Quincey’s blood sugar levels were sky high after several tests. A diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes was made. 

“It was definitely a shock,” Sierra said. “I can tell you that there was lots of crying involved. It’s really hard to give insulin shots to your child.”

Now four months later, Sierra and her son will be walking this Saturday in the second annual Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) walk at Exploration Place.

“I thought it was a really good way for me to get involved,” Sierra said. “It felt close to home. So I felt like I needed to.”

Registration and check-in starts at 9 a.m. at 300 N. McLean Blvd. The two-mile walk begins at 10 a.m. All collected funds go toward researching a Type 1 diabetes (T1D) cure.

In addition to walking in the event, WSU is providing 15 students, faculty or staff to volunteer. JDRF contacted Wu Crew coordinator Carmen Hytche to help recruit volunteers. 

“I feel that people volunteer to their passion,” Hytche, who coordinated with WSU volunteers interested in helping, said.

Communities around the world participate in JDRF’s signature “Walk to Cure Diabetes.” Last year, Wichita’s walk drew more than 750 individuals and raised more than $80,000. But without the work of local volunteers nothing could be done to put on the event, Wichita walk coordinator Diane Hurst said

“Our volunteers are fantastic. We truly could not do this event without our volunteers…and we are just so appreciative of the Wichita State crew that’s coming out,” Hurst said.

McDonald’s will be providing lunch at 11 a.m.

 “A lot of people are going to say ‘you’re a diabetes organization, why are you having fast food for lunch a fundraising walk?’” Hurst said.

Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are different. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease that attacks the pancreas and destroys beta cells. Those beta cells allow the body to take in insulin. So people with this form of diabetes, like 18-month-old Jackson, will be insulin-dependent for the rest of their lives, Hurst said.

 “A lot of people are going to be there because they have personal ties to diabetes either through their family or themselves or loved ones,” Hurst said. “These people are coming out to show their support for Type 1 and those impacted by the disease.”

About 900 people are expected Saturday morning, and the organization hopes to raise $100,000. 

Hurst encourages interested walkers to go online at walk.jdrf.org/wichitawalk to pre-register. For Sierra and her son, the walk is a way to help Quincey’s life. As long as she can pry him off Elmo Saturday morning to get to Exploration Place on time.

“But once I get him in the car and he gets out and runs around, he’ll get excited,” she said.