The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League has announced that November will be designated Diabetes month for all 12 teams in the league including the Kindersley Klippers. This will be the second straight November that the SJHL will designate the month as Diabetes month after doing it for the first time last year. During the month each SJHL player will be wearing a JDRF sticker on their helmet. The JDRF stands for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation which is the leading charitable funder and advocate of Type 1 Diabetes worldwide research. Type 1 Diabetes is the most severe form of diabetes that is a non preventable autoimmune disease. It can occur at any age but is most commonly diagnosed from infancy to the late 30s. It cannot be prevented by diet, exercise or medication like Type 2 Diabetes and needs constant blood testing and regulating.

Kaleb Dahlgren, the Honorary Ambassador for JDRF and player with York University says, “Not only does Diabetes directly impact over 300,000 Saskatchewan residents, it has a profound impact on their families and how they go about their daily lives. We are dedicated to finding a cure for this disease, and we certainly appreciate the tremendous support of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League to help us reach our goal.”

He continued, saying, “Canadians living with Type 1 Diabetes are insulin-dependent for life with the constant threat of developing complications such as blindness, end-stage kidney disease, nerve damage, heat attack, stroke, amputation and even death. Insulin allows a person with diabetes to stay alive, but, it does not cure the disease, nor does it prevent its eventual complications.”

The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. JDRF funding and leadership is associated with most major scientific breakthroughs in Type 1 Diabetes research to date in Canada and around the world.. For more information, please visit www.jdrf.ca.

Release from the Director of Marketing and Communications Logan Fraser of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.