Have you experienced a miracle lately or seen superheroes in action?  No, not in the movies but in your everyday life?  Please read on because we have one to share. 

Our daughter is a Type 1 diabetic, who has an Animas insulin pump.  It gives her the dosages of insulin she needs to live.  Two years ago, when she got the insulin pump, we learned so much, but two things were clear.  We would not be eligible for a replacement with insurance if it was lost or stolen (approximately $7,000), and the Animas pump is one of the few that is waterproof.  We decided then that whenever we went swimming in a lake our daughter would always have to disconnect from ‘her pump’.  And I say ‘her pump’, because as a diabetic, the pump becomes part of you.  It is attached some way or another almost every minute of every day and she has tried to personalize it with a pink pump and a bright purple skin.  

This week, our daughter attended a week long church camp called Water’s Edge in Howell, MI.  At registration, we explained the pump, site changes, emergency procedures and so on.  And we made it mandatory that when our daughter went swimming in the lake, she would have to disconnect from her pump and give it to her counselor.  Day 1 of camp, I received a call from the camp nurse that our daughter had lost her pump in the lake.  She had disconnected and took a swim test in the lake, then sat on shore and reconnected to her pump.  The kids had free time and headed to the snack shop.  There was a sudden change it plans when it was announced that the water slide was open.  Being a kid first, and a diabetic second, she did not think twice and donned a life vest, ran up the tower and flew down the water slide.  Her pump came flying down too.  

As she surfaced, something hit her leg and she realized that her pump was gone.  She immediately told the lifeguard and they tried looking for it to no avail.  The camp director, nurse and staff immediately went into action.  We were notified and began dealing with Christine’s blood sugar and her health.    Next, we contacted our Animas pump representative, who dropped everything, got a loaner pump, grabbed his mask and fins, then headed to the camp.  My husband and I made our way to the camp with thoughts of a parent wanting to say we told you not to and yet knowing that life with diabetes is hard enough and we all need to love and support each other, no matter what.  

The camp had closed the beachfront (which was no small task on the first day of camp with hundreds of campers and a beautiful Michigan day in July).  The camp director called in a diver and began the search.  When the Animas pump representative arrived, he just smiled at our daughter and said he was so glad to hear that she was having fun and being a kid.  We soon learned from him that we may be able to have our glucometer above the water try to sync with the pump in the water and get an alarm or light it up.  Hours later, no luck.  Soon our daughter was connected to a loaner pump and we went home stuck in our own mire of what to do. 

After much prayer, we contacted the local dive and rescue teams.  They knew the lake and said it was pretty hopeless.  It would be like finding a needle in a haystack because the bottom had 1-2 feet of muck and silt.  It would take a miracle to find it.  And after a week of hundreds of swimmers and water slide riders, the pump was probably buried.  We called a dive shop that gave us the name of a diver that has an underwater metal detector and specializes in this type of diving.  They said if Kris Oswald cannot find it, then no one can.  Kris answered our call for help saying that this is what he lives for – thank God.  He said that he specializes in Michigan mud and muck diving.   Within 48 hours, Kris and his friend, Ernie, arrived at the camp with waterproof metal detectors, dive gear and hope.  

At the beachfront, Kris wanded over the loaner pump that was now attached to our daughter and got a signal.  Then we described her pump and the location that she would have exited the slide.  Within 15 minutes, Kris surfaced saying his equalization was off which was causing pain in his ears and he headed toward us on the dock.   There was a long painful pause and he said with a grin, it was okay; he found the pump and pulled it out to our relief.  We screamed, cried and were in awe.  He found our needle in the haystack, it was a miracle. 

We are so relieved and very thankful.  After 5 days in the bottom of a lake and a new battery, the pump works.  But the technology does not help without the sacrificial giving, love and support of modern day marvels.  There are still superheroes in this world and we want to thank them…  

Thank you, Water’s Edge Camp, the director, nurse and staff for how you were faster than lighting and went into action.  Your support and help were amazing.   Typically at camp, awards are given and you deserve to be camp staff of the year. 

Thank you Mark Walsh, the Animas pump representative that gave so freely of himself for another diabetic.  You are wonderful to work with and we count it a privilege to walk shoulder to shoulder with you this side of a cure.  You deserve pump representative of the year award. 

Thank you Animas for understanding kids, diabetes and life.  We appreciate a waterproof colored pump that takes a licking and keeps on ticking.  You deserve Pump Company of the year award. 

THANK YOU - Kris Oswald.  You volunteered your time and equipment to help locate a needle that saves a little girl’s life.  We will never forget you and either will God.  You are a superhero! 

Thank you, friends and family that prayed for us.  It was a week that we will not forget and yet have learned so much.  Life is precious but more so the people in our lives.

And last but not least, thank you God.  The morning of the dive, we opened up our Bible and asked for help.  The Bible opened to Psalm 40, which reads…

I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry.  2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.

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