On Thursday March 26th I was given the opportunity to sit down with professional IndyCar driver Conor Daly. Conor when not on the racetrack is staying active in the community, especially when it comes to talking about type 1 diabetes. Diagnosed at age 14, he says that, "it's just been something I've lived with. Since a young age it became about managing it and having control rather than letting it control me."
As a race car driver, you are a part one of the most physically enduring sports where you're sitting for a long amount of times going through tons of different forces acting on you at hundreds of miles per hour speeds. Type 1 diabetes is something that needs to be managed and a low blood sugar needs to be properly handled.. To supply that he says that, "other racers typically have water in a tube for when they want it, but I have a water like liquid with sugar that I make sure to use when I need it." It's things like this that Conor has had to adapt to when on the racetrack along with all of the things that go into the sport.
Conor wants to people to know that he loves using his platform to not only raise awareness, but to show that nothing can really stop you. He told me about he has spoken to Mark Andrews, Pro Bowl tight-end for the Baltimore Ravens and also a type 1 diabetic. Both of these athletes as well as many others use their platform and influence in the best way possible. Conor remarked that, " I think that it is important that people know about these things, and they don't need to take action, but just talking about this stuff is something I do all the time, I think talking to people I meet about diabetes is something that a lot of other people in similar situation do and that's a great thing that I know will continue." He remarked that, "it's important that people especially younger people, know more about these things because as people grow up, just knowing and learning about others it something we all could use."
From my meeting with Conor if I could sum him up with one word it would be strong. Conor played type 1 diabetes off as something that he doesn't really deal with, more that he controls and manages. He believes that that is important for people with type 1 diabetes to do and staying strong is necessary as well as something Conor has done throughout his career. Through his positive impact on the community, type 1 diabetics, and his ideas on speaking out, Conor and I were able to capture what my project is about, building a community.
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