Last modified: Thursday, October 2, 2008 2:30 AM EDT Morgan Armitage Feehan senior plans events to fight diabetes BY STEPHEN PETERSON SUN CHRONICLE STAFF NORFOLK - For Morgan Armitage, a senior at Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro, diabetes is a disease that truly hits home as she has had juvenile diabetes for the past four years. To raise money for the cause and shine a light on diabetes, the 17-year-old Norfolk resident is taking part in a walk Saturday and putting on a dance show Sunday. Armitage is taking part in the 2008 Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Walk To Cure Diabetes Saturday at the Hatch Shell in Boston. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m., with the walk kicking off at 10. "If anybody wants to walk, they are more than welcome to join the team," Armitage said, adding her eight-member team that includes friends and family has T-shirts. "A lot of people who know how important this is for me are joining," Armitage said. "It is a lot of fun. It is a day you have a lot of support from people who understand what you have gone through." The Dancers Defeat Diabetes benefit show is scheduled for Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. in the King Philip Regional High School auditorium off Route 140. "I always had a passion for dance. I thought why not put something together that I really struggled and battled with, with something I love like dance," Armitage said. Armitage contacted dance studios in the area, and she and three of them, Kathy Ryan Dance Studio in Norfolk, O'Brien's Dance Studio in Foxboro, and Showcase Dance Productions in Wrentham, are putting together the benefit show. Armitage has been a member of Kathy Ryan for 16 years, having had her start at 1. Two young girls, Aleena Rose and Anna Lise Rose, will be dancing solo. Tickets are $10 at the door, and all money raised will go toward the walk fundraiser. "I hope to bring together as much of the community as we can," Armitage said. Armitage says she hopes the dance will become an annual event, though she admits that may be a challenge as she heads off to college next year. A member of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, she became an advocate for the group after walking last year in their event. Her team raised $3,350. The goal this year is $5,000, and Armitage has raised over $1,000 herself by sending out solicitation letters. At the awards ceremony, Armitage's team won the Gold Sneaker Award for donations raised as well as receiving a certificate for their efforts. "I myself received an award for continuing to fight for a cure as well as trying to control the disease in myself," Armitage said. About four years ago, Armitage's family was very worried as she was drinking about a gallon of milk, water and orange juice in one day and eating a lot but still losing weight. She ended up at Children's Hospital in Boston. "If we hadn't caught it when we did, in a week or two I could have been in a diabetic coma," Armitage said. She initially had to give herself three to four shots of insulin a day and testing her blood sugar level, but she now has an insulin pump. "Things have stabilized but there are still days when I have high blood sugar," Armitage said. "I didn't know anything about it or anyone who had it until I had it. You learn something new about it every day." She admits she and her family are worried about her being on her own next year at college. Armitage, daughter of Kimberly and Stephen Armitage, wears a medical alert bracelet. She said she hopes to "educate people about how scary and life changing" diabetes can be, highlighting the difficulties teenagers and children as well as adults go through with the disease. "It is something I don't think any teenager or young kid should have to deal with," Armitage said. "It is hard enough living through this, but when I see other kids getting diagnosed, it really makes me want people to realize what is going on," Armitage said. "Diabetes is growing, more kids are getting it. I am hoping we stop it before it gets any worse." Donations made out to Armitage or JDRF can be sent to Armitage at P.O Box 758, Norfolk, MA 02056. STEPHEN PETERSON can be reached at 508-236-0377 or at speterson@thesunchronicle.com.