Chelmsford Family To Walk to Cure Diabetes

Chelmsford residents Dennis and Susan McHugh walked their first 5K with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) five years ago and have not given their feet a break since.

“The annual JDRF walk is very personal for us,” said Susan McHugh.

The couple discovered JDRF back in 2006 shortly after their son David, then 18, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

“When we first found out our son was diagnosed we really didn’t know how to help him or ourselves,” said McHugh. “The disease really is a life-changing thing that affects so many people.”

Following the news of their son’s diagnosis, the family contacted a close friend who referred them to JDRF. According to McHugh, she and her family quickly became involved in the organization, walking in the Boston 5k that year.

“We walked then and continue to walk because we see what the organization is doing. We want more of it and we want to support it,” she said.

Since 2006, the McHugh family has continued to work with JDRF not only by consecutively participating in their annual 5k, but also by speaking at informational meetings hosted by the foundation as well.

“There are a lot of organizations out there doing great things, and JDRF is one of them,” said McHugh. “They really have found the magic and caused us to be hopeful.”

McHugh said seeing the event grow year after year has brought her hope.

“The first walk we did was amazing,” McHugh said. “We met other families going through the same thing we were, and there was so much positive energy. We were all there to help support the research that will make the lives of those affected better now.”

McHugh said the families she's met through the walk are inspiration for her to keep going.

“Living with diabetes is manageable, but it comes with lots of complications,” she said. “It’s not like you can skip treatment one night, like you can with brushing your teeth. It’s an ongoing thing. The only thing consistent about the disease is its inconsistency.”

McHugh hopes that the support from her family and others in and around Chelmsford continue to raise money and awareness for a promising future of diabetes.

“I believe the disease can be cured,” McHugh said. “The answer is out there, and we just have to push it over the edge to us.”

McHugh and her family will be lacing up their sneakers for their fifth 5k with JDRF this Saturday, Oct. 1. She hopes others in the community will support the event as well.

“The walk itself is going to be on a beautiful day, with lots of wonderful people and lots of fun,” she said.

Although she is excited for this year’s event, McHugh knows that her support for JDRF and the future of diabetes is just getting started.

“Things can always happen, and we all must support each other to find a solution,” she said. “We will beat this. We will walk forever if that is what it takes.”

To donate to the McHugh family in their walk in the JDRF 5K this Saturday, please visit www.walk.jdrf.org, click on "Donate to a Walker" and type in Susan or Dennis McHugh.