By GARRETT VALCOURT
A local family is speaking out in support of proposed federal legislation they believe could help pave the way for broader access to potentially life-changing treatments for people living with Type 1 diabetes.
Lyndsi Scurlock recently shared her family’s experience after her son, Cannen, a Chipley High School Student athlete, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes earlier this year following months of intermittent symptoms. According to Scurlock, Cannen’s blood sugar level measured above 400 at a doctor’s appointment before rising to what she described as a “dangerous” 678 during emergency hospitalization.
“We were immediately sent to Children’s of Alabama, where my husband Scotty, Cannen, and I spent the weekend receiving six rigorous hours of training just to learn how to keep our son alive at home,” Scurlock said.
Type 1 diabetes is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin, requiring lifelong blood sugar monitoring and insulin management.
Scurlock said the diagnosis also revived memories of her grandfather, Durwood Corbitt, who lived with Type 1 diabetes for more than four decades after being diagnosed at age 21.
“He was forced into early retirement due to severe neuropathy in his feet and suffered through complications, but he never let it slow him down,” she said. “As long as I can remember, he advocated for a cure.”
According to Scurlock, Corbitt remained hopeful advances in research would eventually lead to a breakthrough treatment.
“He lived with the constant worry that his children or grandchildren would one day be forced to carry this same burden,” she said. “But he was also fiercely hopeful, always saying, ‘It will be cured in my lifetime.’”
Scurlock’s advocacy comes as the U.S. Senate prepares to consider the ISLET Act, formally known as the Increase Support for Life-saving Endocrine Transplantation Act. Supporters of the bill say it would streamline access to islet cell transplantation procedures by reclassifying human cadaveric islet cells as organs rather than biologic drugs.
Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulates donor islet cells under the biologics pathway, while many other countries classify them as transplantable organs overseen through existing organ transplant systems.
The proposed legislation would shift oversight away from the FDA’s drug approval process and into the nation’s established organ transplant framework.
Scurlock referenced ongoing research efforts, including the Eledon Trials at UChicago Medicine, which are studying transplanted insulin-producing islet cells combined with newer immunosuppressant medications. According to Scurlock, some trial participants have reportedly achieved insulin independence following treatment.
“We are finally standing on the threshold of that cure, but bureaucratic red tape is standing in the way,” she said.
While researchers continue studying islet cell therapies, Scurlock said many people do not fully understand the day-to-day realities families face managing Type 1 diabetes.
“Type 1 diabetes is not just about ‘eating better’ or avoiding sugar,” she said. “It strikes healthy people, and its daily management is a grueling, 24/7 second job.”
Scurlock described the constant monitoring required to manage the disease, including carbohydrate calculations, insulin dosing, glucose checks during baseball games, and overnight monitoring for dangerous blood sugar fluctuations.
“Mothers like me never sleep a full night, constantly waking up to check a glucose app in the dark to make sure our children are safe,” she said.
She also noted the impact on siblings and family members who may need to administer emergency glucagon injections during severe hypoglycemic episodes.
“A simple hot shower can drop his blood sugar to dangerous lows,” Scurlock said. “Stress, or even the natural adrenaline from a close ballgame, can cause his blood sugar to skyrocket.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Type 1 diabetes diagnoses among children and young adults have increased in recent years, though researchers continue studying the causes behind the rise.
Scurlock said she hopes sharing her family’s story will encourage others to learn more about the proposed legislation and the challenges faced by those living with the disease.
“My grandfather didn’t live to see the cure he dreamed of,” she said, “but I am determined to make sure Cannen does.”
Durwood Corbitt lived with Type 1 diabetes for 44 years after being diagnosed at age 21. According to family members, Corbitt spent much of his life advocating for diabetes research and remained hopeful a cure for the disease would one day be found. [CONTRIBUTED PHOTO]
AMBER PATINO 
Staff Report