GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.,– The day after his 13th birthday, Simon Scheer will be biking 30 miles to raise money for diabetes research. Scheer has a personal connection that makes him passionate about finding a cure. His younger brother Theo was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in 2010.
“I was just surprised that he had it,” Scheer told FOX 17 News. “It’s a lot of work… Theo gets a lot of shots and gets his blood sugar checked a lot.”
Nine-year-old Theo has become a pro at managing the disease daily, but still needs the help of the whole family at times.
“He needs a shot every time he has something to eat,” said Amy Scheer, the boys’ mother. “A lot of math, a lot of worry, a lot of work.”
Amy said deciding to learn more about diabetes is what led her to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
“I heard that there would be a fundraiser bike ride for JDRF… and so I thought this would be maybe a way to get the whole family moving.”
Surprisingly, Amy said Simon jumped at the chance to take part in a 30-mile JDRF bike ride in La Crosse, Wisconsin from August 15-18th.
Simon even began to create and sell comics to bring in extra money for JDRF.
Both Simon and his dad will be completing the ride next week. They’ve already surpassed their fundraising goal of $6,000 thousand dollars.
“That’s really why we’re doing it to try to help out the people who deal with this everyday,” said Greg Scheer, the boys’ dad. “Simon has really shown an interest in doing this for Theo and clearly saying this is important to him as a brother… it’s been really great to see.”
For more information on JDRF, click here.
To view Simon’s fundraising page and donate, click here.