Type 1 diabetic Jaime Ferrer inspires through FSU baseball
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (BVM) – In 2019, 37.3 million Americans, or 11.3% of the population, had diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association, nearly 1.9 million Americans have type 1 diabetes, including about 244,000 children and adolescents. Florida State University baseball star Jaime Ferrer is one of those 1.9 million.
The sophomore outfielder was fortunate enough to be diagnosed early. At age 3, Ferrer began to show the symptoms of Type 1 diabetes, or T1D as it is sometimes referred to. Exhaustion, extreme thirst, increased urination and unexplained weight loss were signs that something was wrong, but it wasn’t just a case of the flu or another disease with similar symptoms and thanks to a visit to the doctor, Ferrer and his family quickly discovered T1D.
“My parents took me to the doctor and thankfully the doctor I was seeing at the time, her sister has Type 1 diabetes and she knew all the symptoms and was well aware of it,” Ferrer said. “So luckily we were able to figure that out before anything serious happened so I’m super thankful for that.”
Since that time, Ferrer has had to monitor his blood sugar and do insulin therapy to help combat the condition. While it isn’t an easy journey for any diabetic, Ferrer has built a solid support system around him to help him maintain a healthy life.
“Once I got diagnosed, [my parents] got super educated on Type 1 diabetes,” Ferrer said. “My family was and still are a huge help to me. My mom, my dad, both of my brothers got super, super educated on the topic and they can take care of me and educate me. I still talk to my parents multiple times a day if I have any questions about how much insulin I need or can I do this or that.”
Being born into a family of athletes, Ferrer did not let his disease hold him back.
“We researched online, we found athletes with Type 1 diabetes, we found people that were doing anything that you can imagine doing that lived with Type 1 diabetes,” Ferrer said. “So it is kind of like, ‘If they’re doing it, why can’t I do it?’ So for me and my family, it was a huge inspiration seeing other people doing stuff I wanted to do.
“At a very young age, I never thought that Type 1 diabetes stopped me from doing anything that I loved to do.”
Ferrer excelled at tennis as a young child before finding his true passion–baseball. The grandson of a Cuban national team baseball player, Ferrer had a great natural talent for the sport despite his diagnosis.
In high school, he played baseball for Central Point Academy in Kissimmee. By the time he was a senior, Ferrer was ranked as the No. 323 prospect in the nation and No. 47 in the state of Florida by the baseball recruiting website Perfect Game. Despite a plethora of options to choose from, the outfielder ultimately decided on Florida State, joining the legendary program.
“I had a lot of schools to choose from but whenever I took my visit here I just felt like the baseball atmosphere was amazing,” Ferrer said. “The baseball culture, the tradition that has been here at Florida State, it’s an honor to have the opportunity to play here. You know about all the greats and everybody that has played here. When you think about college baseball, Florida State comes to mind so when I had the opportunity I couldn’t say no to it.”
During his first season with the Seminoles, Ferrer didn’t just play as a true freshman, but he became arguably the best player on the entire team. The newcomer started all 59 games for FSU, leading the team in at-bats, batting average, on-base percentage, OPS, total bases, hits, runs and doubles. This earned the freshman All-ACC freshman team and Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American honors. All this for a T1D athlete no less.
“It’s what you expect and what you work for because you want to come in and have an impact so that was my goal all fall, all preseason and in the spring,” Ferrer said. “Being able to go and transfer that onto the field was amazing.
“Last year was a great year for me but I expect a lot more out of myself over the next few years.”
Given his strong freshman season and his success throughout his life and career despite his diagnosis, Ferrer has found himself becoming an inspiration for other young diabetic athletes. The baseball standout feels honored to be able to give the next generation somebody to look up to, much like the T1D athletes he looked up to early in his own career.
“When I was younger, I always looked for other athletes and other people who were successful in life that lived with Type 1 diabetes because it served me as an inspiration,” Ferrer said. “So I feel like I have that responsibility right now to spread the word and be an inspiration to kids and families and show them that it’s possible to succeed and play sports at a D1 level with Type 1 diabetes.”
Not only does Ferrer inspire through his play on the field, but he has also become an advocate for diabetes awareness off of it. According to the ADA, diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in the United States in 2019 based on the 87,647 death certificates in which diabetes was listed as the underlying cause of death. Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is one of the most serious complications of the disease and develops when the body doesn’t have enough insulin to allow blood sugar into your cells for use as energy
World Diabetes Day is celebrated on November 14 of each year and Ferrer made sure to do his part to bring attention to the signs of Type 1 diabetes to help prevent DKA. Working with his mother, Ferrer tweeted the four signs of T1D along with the message to immediately tell a doctor if symptoms arise.
“Those are some of the symptoms for Type 1 diabetes that oftentimes get confused for the flu or a stomach bug and unfortunately cost a lot of people’s lives,” Ferrer said. “If I have the opportunity to impact just one person’s life, I’m more than inclined to do that and help them out in any way that I can.”
Frequent urination 🚽
Excessive thirst 💦
Exhaustion 😮💨
Unexplained weight loss ⚖️
On #WorldDiabetesDay I share the #type1diabetes signs so we can stop DKA at diagnosis and save lives. Immediately see your doctor if you experience these symptoms pic.twitter.com/PlZvTl0KnS
— Mila Ferrer (@dulce_guerrero) November 14, 2022
While T1D will remain a part of Ferrer’s life, he will not let it prevent him from getting the most every day. He will also continue to inspire those other diabetic athletes to help reach their dreams through his own journey.
“It means the world to me,” Ferrer said. “I remember a young fan came and wanted me to sign his insulin pump. So for me, just to see that I’m being that inspiration for a kid like those I looked at when I was younger, it pushes me to work harder and continue to be a good role model on and off the field.”
