From ICU to Marathons Running With Type I Diabetes
Jacob Phillips will never forget his birthday eight years ago , a life-changing experience for the Greenville resident .
" On my 22nd birthday I went to the hospital ," said Phillips . " Went to ICU for a couple of days . My blood sugar was so high I couldn ' t get it down ."
After undergoing a series of tests , Phillips found out he has Type 1 diabetes .
“[ With ] Type 1 you can be fit ,” he said . “ You can be healthy . You can be all that . That ' s when your pancreas just decides to stop creating insulin ."
Phillips said he went into the hospital on a Thursday and was discharged on a Saturday . The same day as his graduation from Texas A & M-Commerce ( now East Texas A & M ).
" I got discharged at noon ," he said . " I drove straight to Commerce . Put on my cap and gown . I showed up late ( to graduation ). I took the last seat ."
He was able to walk across the stage to receive his diploma though " it was a little difficult ."
He ' s since been on a journey for good health but as with many journeys there have been some ups and downs .
" I went through so many changes ," he said .
He started injecting himself with insulin multiple times a day and limiting the carbohydrates he ate and got " really , really active " in exercising .
Then " for about one to two years I did not take care of myself at all ," he said . " That was the first time in my life that I touched on depression ."
" One day it just clicked ," he said . " I decided I wanted to get back exercising and what I was doing before ."
Phillips , who graduated from Greenville High School in 2012 , played soccer for the Greenville Lions as a midfielder and dabbled in a couple of other sports .
" I played a little bit of tennis ," he said . " A little bit of baseball . But mainly soccer was my thing ," he said . Now he ' s become a runner . " I started running in 2023 ," he said . " Just around where I live . I ran pretty steady for about a year . I started feeling great ."
He started increasing the distance of his runs .
" I ' m going to run a mile and then OK , I ' m going to do a two-mile and then a 5K ," said Phillips .
Phillips ran his first competitive 5K
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