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When Peter Nerothin was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, he found his passion.
Nerothin set out to prove himself as an endurance athlete.
“To be honest, I felt like I had something to prove to people,” said Nerothin, who found an innovative way of continuing extreme sports while battling type 1 diabetes. “Which is the way it goes with a lot of these athletes … I wanted to make a statement to myself and also to them.”
He later helped direct Triabetes, a program that inspires and instructs diabetic athletes as they train for triathlons.
For his own training, Nerothin wrote a letter to LifeScan, a diabetic supply company, asking for testing supplies so he would not have to work just to have insurance. He promised them that if they would send him test strips, he would compete in an Ironman triathlon.
“I poured my heart and soul into this letter and said, ‘Hey, look, I totally disagree with all the things my doctor’s telling me. I feel like I’m selling myself short in life.”
Read more: Kxly.com