What does it take to be a hero? To Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, it’s about how we face life’s secret battles.
A friend on the playground going through remission, a parent coordinating their child’s specialty care, an athlete recovering from surgery — Children’s Cape Day is about raising up community members resiliently facing their fears and foes. Atlanta teen Kobi Kareem Henegan took things a step further.
He’s a Cape Day hero who is advocating for others, all while facing one of life’s more challenging lifelong diseases.
“I’m a regular kid with friends who runs cross-country, plays video games, has friends, travels and makes mistakes,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an email.
“I think a hero is someone who helps people from their heart and I do that so, I guess you would say I’m a hero,” he added, when asked about his Cape Day honor.
Kobi, 14, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2018. With the pancreas unable to effectively produce enough insulin, those diagnosed need injections of the hormone to survive. They must regularly monitor their blood sugar, watch what they eat and take several daily injections. It’s a life of restriction, discipline and needles — all because of a lifelong, cureless disease that can’t be prevented.
Since being diagnosed, Kobi has dedicated himself to advocating for families affected by diabetes. He’s been on podcasts, acted as a school’s keynote speaker and started his own support group. He represented Georgia on Capitol Hill as an ambassador for the diabetes awareness group Children’s Congress. Two years ago, he and his mother, Kiona Dunn-Henegan, even published a book — “Kobi Takes Type 1 Diabetes to the Zoo.”
Now just weeks after the anniversary of his diagnosis, the high school freshman is being celebrated by the same Atlanta hospital that diagnosed and continues to treat him.
“It just brings it all around full circle,” Dunn-Henegan told the AJC asked about her son’s Cape Day honor. “I almost had a tear in my eye, because he just had an anniversary (on Oct. 3, 2018).”
“I think the importance of Cape Day is it highlights, ‘Hey,, Kobi, we see you. We see that you’ve been fighting this. We see that you’ve been telling folks about it, whether speaking or writing. We see.’ And that’s everything,” she continued.
Now Kobi’s working on a new book, based on his latest adventures as a diabetic cross-country runner in high school.
“My mom’s a therapist, and she pushes me to find others that may be going through what I’m going through to help me ‘cope,’ that’s her word,” he wrote. “I agree when you read about or see others doing what you do you can learn from them. There are about three Type 1 kids in my school, but I’m the only cross-country runner, and that’s the reason for the new book: ‘Kobi Takes Type 1 on a Run.’ This book will show them that they can continue to live and join all kinds of sports, but this book will (also) show how I manage my Type 1 while running and before a race.”
Kobi and his mother are in the first draft right now, but the Atlanta teen already has some advice for other affected families on offer.
“My advice for kids is to take it one day at a time,” he added. “Type 1 is different and hard at first, because of all the things that you have to learn. Carb ratios, insulin dosages and how to take it and being careful about using the same site. Diabetes is tough, but like the video games we play — well, most of us — you learn how to win at each level and then you advance to the next level and sometimes the next level is harder or easier, but you find a way to win at that level too. You master yourself and the opponent.”
To raise up the hidden heroes in our communities, Children’s asked that readers take to social media and share a photo of their cape using #CapeDayATL.
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