From the Bedford (Indiana) Times-Mail
Davis battling on, off the mat: Mitchell wrestler diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes
By BILL KEANE, Times-Mail Sports Writer
Times-Mail / PETE SCHREINER
MITCHELL – Admittedly, Mitchell freshman Kendall Davis hasn’t won a lot of matches on the wrestling mat this season, but for the last four years he’s been waging an even bigger battle – and winning.
Davis was diagnosed with Type I juvenile diabetes in February of 2001 and while it has slowed his pace on occasion, he hasn’t let it get him down.
Davis currently wrestles in the 160-pound weight class for the Jackets and he was also a member of the football team where he played on the defensive line.
Mitchell wrestling coach Steve Grissom has known Davis for several years now and he’s learned a lot about the wrestler and the disease.
“Kendall’s a great kid, “Grissom noted. “He’s been with me since he was in the sixth grade. He’s just a hard worker and that’s the only way to describe him. He slacks off a little bit in the classroom sometimes, but when wrestling season comes around he knows we’re going to knuckle down on that. He gets busy and pulls everything up and really just does whatever we ask him to do.
“When he comes to practice he’s expected to do the same things the other kids do. The kids push him and he pushes right back, but they take care of him too. You can tell by looking at him when he’s not feeling well and they’ll come up and tell me. Our team is like a big family and we take care of each other.”
Checking his blood glucose six times a day and regulating his sugar levels with the help of an insulin pump is something he’s gotten used to in the last couple of years, but there are still times when Davis feels like giving up.
“I guess it comes with the territory, “he said. “I just try to clear my head and think straight, because I know if I don’t I’ll end up back in the hospital again and that’s not very fun. At one point I was going about every week, but that was when I was not taking care of myself. It was so out of control, but now I just do what I have to do. It’s painful, but it’s either that or go lie down and die, so I choose to do it.”
Grissom keeps a watchful eye on all his wrestlers, and Davis especially, but he recalled one instance when he was overly concerned for Kendall’s health.
“He’s only really scared me once, “Grissom said. “When he was in the eighth grade wrestling at Bedford he was sick and vomiting, but he said he was OK to participate. He got sick on the mat and took an injury time-out and I went to the locker room and told him I was going to forfeit. He said ‘I’ll finish it in 15 seconds’, and he went back out and pinned the kid in 10 seconds. But he ended up in the hospital after that.”
Kendall began wrestling at the AAU level under the direction of coach Ed Epping when he was in the third grade, but he never dreamed he’d have to wrestle with an opponent like diabetes.
His first visit to the hospital in 2001 came as a result of what he and his mother thought was a bout with the flu.
“When he was first diagnosed a lot of the kids around here were sick with the flu, “his mother Lori recalled. “And I had it set in my mind that that’s what was wrong with Kendall. He was tired all the time and he didn’t seem to have much energy, but when I got him to the doctor they said we had some major problems.”
Kendall’s blood sugar level was 1,000 (more than 10 times the normal level) and after being stabilized locally he was headed to Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis where he and his family realized he had all the tell-tale signs.
“I definitely didn’t know the signs, “Lori recalled. “But once we got up to Riley and started talking about it, he had every sign there was and I felt like such a terrible mom. He was thirsty all the time and he was up through the night going to the restroom, but I had an excuse for every symptom. I just thought since he was active in sports, that’s why he was thirsty all the time and since he drank a lot that was why he went to the restroom a lot. So I wasn’t familiar enough with it to know what was going on.”
The Davises now know Kendall is a brittle diabetic, which means his blood glucose level often fluctuates from high to low, thus making it harder to control.
Kendall has to watch what he eats in order to make weight, but aside from a few limitations, his eating habits are nearly normal.
“I can pretty much eat like a normal kid because of my insulin pump, “Kendall noted. “But I still have to measure what I eat and make sure everything I eat can be processed by my insulin pump. The more I eat, usually the less I weigh and the less I eat the more I weigh, so I usually just eat normally before a match.”
Kendall’s illness has caused him to miss some practice time, but even as a freshman, he’s earned the respect of his teammates with his work ethic and his tenacity.
“I think some of them still take it for granted, because he’s out there all the time, “Grissom noted. “Even though they know he’s got diabetes I don’t think some of them know how severe it is and it’s not very often you see a kid with this kind of illness competing at this level and doing the things he’s doing.
“But I trust him enough to tell me when he can’t do something. Like I’ve told him, his health is No. 1. Four years from now he’ll probably never wrestle again, so he’s got to take care of his health. If we get to a match and he can’t go, we’ll give up six points and go on, it’s no big deal.”
Having to forfeit a match may be no big deal when you consider the big picture, but dealing with a life-threatening illness is, and it’s something Kendall has taken in stride.
“He’s always been pretty honest with me, “Grissom said. “And when it’s high or low we let him take care of it, and for being as young as he is, he’s pretty responsible.
“It’s a lot for a kid his age to have to deal with and it’s been an experience for me as well. He’s an inspiration to me. He’s competing at a level most people don’t and it just goes to show you if you want to do something bad enough you can do it. I admire the boy for that, because he doesn’t have to do it. He does it because he enjoys it, and he’s always really positive and up beat.”
Kendall has been used as a case study for IU and Riley Hospitals and is a candidate for a pancreas transplant, but the risks associated with the surgery and the possibility that his body might reject the new organ make that option unlikely.
“We know people who have lived for years on insulin, “Lori noted. “And they’ve got so many advances right now with cell transplant and other things, so that’s something we might consider, but that’s a little farther down the road.”
Davis and the Bluejackets return to action Saturday in the Wood Memorial Tourney at Oakland City.
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