Wayne County teen dies from complications from juvenile diabetes
Posted at: 03/07/2013 6:01 PM | Updated at: 03/07/2013 6:09 PM
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A Wayne County teen died Monday after complications from juvenile diabetes and his family says they never knew he had it. Now the teen's family is trying to raise awareness about juvenile diabetes.
The symptoms can easily be mistaken for a number of other things. Mark Deary went home sick from school last week with what appeared to be a stomach bug.
Just a few days later, he died at the hospital.
Juvenile diabetes is a disease that happens at random and doesn't have the same genetic predisposition. You can't really screen for it which is why they don't test for it unless a patient asks for it or shows signs. The doctor also said you could test for juvenile diabetes and be completely normal and still develop it in two or three months.
Sue Camp, Mark's aunt, said, “He was just at my house three weeks ago about to bring me an elephant cause I collect elephants, and he had picked one up and brought it to me.”
Sue Camp says she didn't notice anything wrong with her 13-year-old nephew Mark, or MJ, Deary. Deary was sent home sick on Thursday from school. Sunday, when his dad checked on him, he found the teen unresponsive in bed. Immediately, he was rushed to the hospital where they learned he had juvenile diabetes, but by then, it was too late. His organs were failing and Deary passed away Monday.
Camp said, “Nobody knew he had diabetes. If they did, they would have treated it.”
Camp wants to make sure parents learn from her nephew's story about the importance of testing for diabetes.
Here are some of the symptoms:
+extreme thirst
+frequent urination
+sudden vision changes
+increased appetite, but sudden weight loss
+fruity or sweet breath
Mary Anne Fox, the executive director with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation says parents can often confuse those symptoms for other things.
Mary Anne Fox said, “The symptoms can be very similar to the flu, or a cold, or for example, if it is the summer and your child is playing sports, and it is hot outside you are thinking, well, it's hot they are thirst. It isn't as easy to pick up the warning signs sometime.”
Deary's family says if they didn't notice the red flags, others might not either. So they have a message for parents.
Camp said, “Get your kids tested. I want it to become a yearly thing for kids before school. Just like shots, or getting their eyes examined, or hearing tested. have a diabetes test. He wasn't sick, he wasn't nothing. It was a shock. One day he is good, next day he is gone.”
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