At 10 years old, Quinn Nystrom made a promise she intended to keep. So the precocious fifth-grader from Baxter, Minn., grabbed a clipboard and trudged door-to-door asking neighbors for donations. Their money, she told them, would help to find a cure for people like her 5-year-old brother, Will, who had Type 1 diabetes. Three years later, she was forced to confront the same daunting diagnosis. It first seemed like a death sentence to the teen. But she quickly realized that she was in control of her own happiness. “Why not redouble my efforts?” Nystrom recalls thinking. Over the next two decades, she dedicated her life to fulfilling that oath — and finding a cure. Now 32, Nystrom is a national diabetes advocate who travels the country sharing lessons from her own battle with Type 1 diabetes and empowering others to conquer the disease. The platform has granted her an audience with former President George W. Bush, the late Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone and Gov. Mark Dayton when he was a U.S. senator. She also serves as the sole female City Council member in Baxter, where she is the youngest of her peers by at least a generation. Her term ends in December which, she said, will allow her to focus on full-time advocacy. Those who know her best say her dogged activism began with those doorknocking days, when she flashed a photo of her baby brother to garner support. But she never stopped and never slowed down. Start your week… [Read full story]
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