Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Angels in the Valley:

Diabetic children in Las Vegas have a sweet mentor

Sarah D'Errico

L.E. Baskow

Sarah D’Errico, seen Tuesday, April 15, 2014, works with the Nevada Diabetes Association. She also volunteers and participates in various events, including races to raise awareness for diabetes.

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At a campground 20 miles southwest of Las Vegas, children play tag, twirl hula hoops, scamper beneath hanging tie-dye T-shirts and swat the campground cat, Rocky, away from their snacks.

Off to the side, Sarah D’Errico stands in a circle of campers, patiently giving advice. She explains to campers how to manage their blood sugar levels and how to deal with the embarrassment of passing out in school. She’s 21 — old enough to be authoritative, young enough to be real.

As the circle breaks up for dinner, D’Errico reflects on her own camp experiences over the past eight years.

“All of the people I met here at camp are still some of my best friends,” she says.

D’Errico, a UNLV student majoring in nutrition, volunteers several weeks a year at youth diabetes camps, including this one, Camp Vegas.

This camp is hosted at Potosi Pines, overlooking lush pine trees and shrubs in the foothills between Interstate 15 and Pahrump. Campers make crafts, build bonfires, hike and stargaze.

D’Errico began attending when she was 12, four years after she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, an auto-immune disease in which a person produces little or no insulin and depends on daily insulin injections to survive. As she grew older, she chose to return as a volunteer worker.

At 17, she was trained to be a camp counselor, with expanded responsibilities. Now, she checks her campers’ blood-sugar levels day and night, teaches them how to monitor what they eat and lends an ear to those who have questions about their disease. Volunteer doctors and nurses also are on site to handle more serious issues.

“The kids are what really drive me,” D’Errico said, watching her campers, hands on her hips, with a backpack of emergency supplies slung over her shoulders. “To be able to help a child suffering with this disease is a great feeling. For these kids, it’s a place where they can feel normal. They may be the only one of their friends or family members who has diabetes.”

D’Errico also recruits and trains new counselors.

“She doesn’t like to admit how valuable she is to us, but if we lost Sarah, camp would never be the same,” said Emily Isennock, a volunteer whom D’Errico recruited.

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