Sixty-eight-year-old Jack McCarthy, who was diagnosed with diabetes in 1936 at the age of 3, has walked nearly 1,000 miles across the US heartland to raise funds for the American Diabetes Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. McCarthy's walk began in Derby, Kansas, and reached its final destination – Eli Lilly's corporate headquarters in Indianapolis – on 1 November.
'The doctors told my parents that living to the age of 20 would be a miracle for me,' said McCarthy. 'I wanted to thank Lilly for sponsoring my walk and making the insulin that has kept me alive.'
McCarthy walked 24-32 miles a day; travelled with eight pairs of shoes and 84 pairs of socks and had his blood sugar level checked and ate 150-200 calories in high energy snacks every four miles.
