What’s Up With Jack?
Chapter Four: Jack’s Bad Idea
Author: Julia Ransohoff, high school student writer
The next day, Jack remembered that he had promised himself he would swim the entire practice. He was in the locker room, changing into his swimsuit, when he heard some bully say, “Hey look, it’s Jack, the baby who needs his mommy to pack him juice boxes in his lunch. You can’t even swim for the full hour anymore.”
That sealed the deal; Jack was going to make it through the entire practice without his juice box or a snack. Halfway through the practice, he began to feel slightly tired, but keeping his promise to himself, he kept going. He would show that idiot kid. When there were only 10 minutes left, Jack had to take a break. He held onto the wall, but just for 30 seconds, and then he pushed on. When his coach finally blew the whistle, Jack was extremely relieved.
He could barely get himself out of the pool, and as he began to walk over to where his towel and gym bag were, Jack felt lightheaded and dizzy. Suddenly, he was on the ground and his swim coach was standing over him, shouting, “Somebody call 911, it’s an emergency!” Conscious for a second, Jack heard an ambulance and then saw a needle.
When Jack woke up, he was in the hospital, his parents and grandmother by his side. He saw an IV bag and traced the tube to his arm. He asked his dad what had happened, and his dad said, “You fainted on the pool deck because your blood sugar got too low. Luckily, your coach knew what was going on and called 911.” Jack was stunned. Even though he’d felt tired, he had not realized how serious his condition was. He knew now it was stupid of him not to take a break when he needed one, and he promised himself he would not pay attention to teasing again.
For the next couple days, Jack stayed in the hospital. He received many bouquets of flowers and cards from people at school, and he was sure they all knew that he had diabetes by now.
On his second day in the hospital, Jack called his coach to thank him. “Hey, I just don’t know how to thank you enough. Without you, I wouldn’t…I…I don’t know where I’d be,” Jack said holding back tears.
“I’m glad you’re doing okay and the whole team can’t wait to have you back. But I want you to get some rest, and don’t come back until you’re ready,” his coach said.
“Thanks, coach, I can’t wait to come back too.”
Before he went back to school, Jack visited Dr. Brody, who explained the dangers of hypoglycemia. If Jack had not gotten to the hospital, she said, he could have gone into a coma or even died. The doctor told Jack he needed to check his blood sugar before, during and after swim practice. If his blood sugar level was too low, he needed to refuel and wait a while before getting back in the water. Jack said he understood and prepared to go back to school.