MIDDLEBURG – Hunter Burke is just a normal sixth-grade student at Clay Charter Academy. To look at him, no one would suspect that just a few short months ago, he was in Diabetic Ketoacidosis with a blood glucose level of more than 500.

Burke is the son of Hannah and John Burke. Hannah is a sixth and seventh-grade science teacher and John is active-duty Navy who was nearing the end of a 305-day deployment when he got the news that Hunter was being admitted to Wolfson’s Children’s Hospital and that he was one of the 40,000 people diagnosed each year in the United States with Type 1 Diabetes. Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease unrelated to diet or lifestyle and can strike at any age – even adults. Burke, who was diagnosed with Autism at 2, has always had a fear of needles. It took five people to hold him down just to get the pin-prick to check his blood sugar levels. Now, he takes an average of 10 shots a day to stay alive and must count every carbohydrate he eats to survive.

“Hunter had many symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes, but because we have no family background with the disease, it went unnoticed,” said his mother. “He was just at the end of his fifth-grade year during the pandemic, his father was deployed, and we were still dealing with his Autism. It was a challenging time to say the least.”

According to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the pancreas stops producing insulin, which is a hormone that allows the body to get energy from food. Symptoms include frequent urination, extreme thirst, dry mouth, fatigue and weakness, increased appetite, unexplained weight loss and slow-healing cuts.

Now Hunter has started his first year in middle school and while trying to navigate being in advanced classes he is having to struggle with keeping his blood glucose in range so that he can stay alive. After the diagnosis of Type one diabetes which is an auto-immune disease Hunter returned to full in Person learning and continues to get A/B Honor Roll. His classmates, and in fact, his entire school will hold a fundraiser to raise money for JDRF as well as raise awareness of the disease. The kick-off was Nov. 1 on Facebook Live at Clay Charter Academy, located at 1417 Red Apple Road in Middleburg featuring principal Brian Gifford. He talked about the school’s fund-raising efforts and promote friendly competition with its sister school, Duval Charter School at Westside. “Our students will participate in activities throughout the entire month of November,” said Clay Charter Principal Brian Gifford. “From raising funds to dress down days and a Diabetes Walk, our students will gain a first-hand knowledge of what one of their peers and teachers is going through while helping the greater cause that affects so many children and adults.”