Stronger than his circumstances: Recognized with Sort-I diabetes as a youth, Jefferson’s Corkery overcomes obstacles to earn Division-I scholarship | JHS Sports activities

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Something was wrong.

Paxton Corkery, a growing boy aged 11, lost weight at an alarming rate after losing nearly 30 pounds.

“I had lost 27 pounds in two weeks and – that might be a little TMI – but I honestly didn’t urinate excessively, probably 20 times a day,” recalled Corkery, now a senior at Jefferson High School.

Corkery’s skin had gotten so dry that his knuckles broke and then bled when he made a fist. He lost his appetite. And he also endured splitting migraine headaches.

“It was pretty brutal,” said Corkery.

But the unnatural weight loss was the tipping point that Corkery said his parents sought medical attention.

It found that, like 1.6 million Americans, Corkery had type I diabetes, a condition in which the pancreas makes little or no insulin. Insulin allows sugar to enter cells to produce energy.

“At first I was really scared because I thought it meant that I can no longer exercise,” said Corkery. “That was really scary for me.”

Fast forward to 2021 and those fears have long been cleared.

On the day of national signing in February, the 6-foot-1,221-pound corkery received a Division I football scholarship with the State of East Tennessee after a successful career at Jefferson.

He called the moment “a dream come true”.

Jefferson’s soccer coach Gene Cathcart said Corkery undoubtedly put the work in to overcome his circumstances.

“What is so great about him is not just what he does in the field, but what he does in the weight room,” said Cathcart. “During his career here, he was one of our most impressive weight room kites and strength and conditioning kites.

“So he earned this opportunity with all that he overcame and all of the work that he put in … He definitely deserved it.”

Corkery realized early on that a diagnosis of type I diabetes would not determine the future.

He attended a summer camp for children with diabetes called Camp Kudzu at Camp Twin Lakes, Rabun County, where he met others with the same ailment, including a member of the then Georgia Tech soccer team.

The experience was an eye opener for young Corkery.

“I said, ‘hey, I can still do this and play it high on diabetes too,” said Corkery.

But not without close monitoring.

Corkery checks his blood sugar frequently (eight or nine times) throughout the day and before eating or drinking anything that has carbohydrates. He takes insulin, including a long-acting shot of insulin that stays in his bloodstream throughout the day.

However, after a meeting between his parents, Cathcart, and the Jefferson training staff, a plan for caring for diabetics in relation to football was agreed by Corkery before the first season.

This plan required strict adherence to a schedule for checking blood sugar levels: before warming up before the game, after returning to the locker room in front of the field, at the end of each quarter, and again after each game. Corkery could also play the situation by feeling when he sensed that his blood sugar was too high or too low.

When a problem arose, Corkery had his own box on the sidelines – a kind of maintenance kit – filled with a monitor, insulin, juices and snacks to adjust his blood sugar if necessary and ensure a safe return to the field. If he drinks three juices and consumes a pack of gum, he will usually go back to normal within 10 minutes.

“The care plan we put in place for Paxton worked so well because he was mature with his diabetes,” said Jefferson trainer Caroline Hicks, adding that Corkery often had the information she needed every day before asking could.

However, Corkery pointed to a time on the soccer field when its competitive nature could have hurt his wellbeing. He felt his blood sugar levels in a game against Oconee County in 2019 but still went on a defensive streak.

“It was kind of stupid on my part,” Corkery admitted. “I didn’t want to get out of the game so I didn’t say anything to anyone. That defensive streak ended and I kind of stumbled to the sidelines and checked my blood sugar and it was really low.

“Coach Parker gave me a good, tough interview afterwards and told me my health was more important than football.”

And there were other scary moments in his life as a Type I diabetic for over seven years. Just last year, Corkery woke to blood sugar levels that had dropped dangerously to 27 one night. Any value under 40 carries a seizure risk, according to Corkery.

Corkery’s condition surprises those not directly related to him or his circle of friends.

“I’m going to sit in class and pull out my insulin to take a shot and people kind of look at me,” said Corkery. “They say, ‘What are you doing?’ and I’m like, “I have diabetes.” Then they are shocked and say, “Oh, I never thought of it.”

These moments enable Corkery to share an important point.

“Then I have to tell people that diabetes is like a lot of diseases where everyone is different,” he said. “The symptoms I may have that I need to do are not what the next diabetic will have to do.”

And Corkery wants to become a pediatric nurse based on his experience with Type I diabetes, especially his diagnosis at age 11.

During a four-day hospital stay, the nurses chatted and joked with Corkery, which put him and those of his family members at ease during a frightening time.

“They talked to me about things that had nothing to do with diabetes,” he said. “You have really helped me and my family feel better. I just want to be able to do this for other families. “

As an athlete, Corkery said the fight against diabetes has reinforced the “no excuses” attitude on the field that he will take to college football. If he can overcome this condition, he can certainly pass a series of sprints, he said.

It also instills a sense of gratitude. Corkery said gambling as a diabetic wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to him.

“I might have something that is stopping me from exercising… So I’m not going to let diabetes stop me from doing things. I’ll just work it through, ”he said.

Those who helped Corkery manage his condition as a high school football player couldn’t be happier to see him as a college football player.

Hicks, his trainer, said it was evidence of who Corkery is.

“It was great to see him grow as an athlete, grow in his management of diabetes, but most of all how he grew into a great young man,” she said.

“I hate to see him go,” added Hicks, “but I love that he gets to the next level and is very, very successful.”

As he heads off to the next level of football in a few months, Cokery has a message for any young athlete staring at a similar situation he faced a few years ago.

“I would tell them that no matter how frustrated or scared you are, if you lower your head and focus on it, whether it’s diabetes is holding you up or anything else, there is nothing you can’t do. Said Corkery. “If you set your jaw and do it, there is nothing you can’t do.”