Christian Ward, a 13-year-old from Charles Town, met with Sens. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia) about the importance of federal support for the research for the treatment and cure of Type I diabetes.
Christian, who received a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes when he was 4 years old, advocated for federal law to cap the cost of insulin used by diabetics at $35 per bottle. Type I diabetes is a genetically-triggered disease that is not caused by eating habits, obesity, or lifestyle, and that typically impacts people when they are children.
Christian shares the chronic disease with his 30-year-old brother Zachary, his 28-year-old brother Samuel, his 24-year-old brother Luke, his 20-year-old sister Noelle, and his father Matt.
As a delegate for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s “2023 Children’s Congress, Christian joined others in asking members of Congress to reauthorize the “Special Diabetes Program” at the National Institute of Health, which expires on Sept. 30. The program’s renewal is estimated to cost $170 million per year.