An intrepid teenager will be running a gruelling 91 kilometre gauntlet in one day for the sake of his little brother, who has type 1 diabetes.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Reginald Burton will run all the way from Jingellic near the Victorian border all the way to Tumbarumba to raise money Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, which is searching for a cure to type 1 diabetes.
Reginald said he was doing it for the sake of his 9-year-old brother Patrick Burton, who was diagnosed with the chronic condition a year-and-a-half ago.
Since then life has never been the same for Patrick, who must constantly keep up with his insulin injections, carbohydrate intake, and blood sugar levels at all hours of the day.
Patrick said it was tough at first, but he said he has steadily grown accustomed to his new normal and is keeping up a positive mindset.
"Every day it gets better," Patrick said.
READ MORE:
Reginald said he wanted to do his bit to raise money for type 1 diabetes research so that other children like Patrick can one day be cured.
To this end he has been getting up every single morning before school to train for his mammoth run, which will be more than twice the length of a normal marathon.
"I've really trained hard," Reginald said.
"I've always had a passion for running, but I've really started putting my head down for this 91 km run over the last two months."
His family will be cheering him on from the comfort of their car, meeting him at six pit stops along the way to refill his supplies and give him some encouragement.
His mother Barbara Burton said she was immensely proud of both of her sons, Reginald for taking on this exhausting challenge and Patrick for his unwavering positivity.
"Kids are amazing. He's resilient, but it would be nice to find a cure," Mrs Burton said.
"We miss the simple things we used to do as a family like going camping, but we can't just spontaneously put things in the car and go: we have to make sure we have the right food, his hypo treatments, his insulin - it's constant."
Mrs Burton said Patrick had lost a lot of the freedoms he'd once had as an active, carefree boy, now that he had to arrange his life around his condition.
However she said he was lucky in one respect, which was that he had a caring brother and family who would always have his back.
"Everyone's there for him and they help him out," Mrs Burton said.
People wanting to donate to Reginald's run can do so at walk.jdrf.org.au/fundraisers/reginaldburton/jdrf-one-walk-step-challenge
Kenji Sato
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
Kenji Sato is a handsome journalist at The Daily Advertiser who enjoys writing flattering bios about himself in the third person. He can be contacted by email at kenji.sato@dailyadvertiser.com.au or by mobile on 0448 927 612.
