Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 4, Karson Sasse remembers struggling to process his future with the disease. 

“I thought it was like being sick and it was going to go away at some point,” Sasse said. “I asked my mom one day at the county fair: ‘Mom, when will I be done with diabetes?’ 

“She said: ‘Karson, you’re not going to be done with it. You’re going to have it for the rest of your life.’ ”

As Sasse entered his teenage years and became accustomed to living with diabetes, he went on a mission to help others who may be struggling to comprehend the disease, which causes a person's blood sugar level to become too high. 

Sasse, now a sophomore at Smith Center High School, has spread diabetes awareness throughout his community and beyond by organizing events and projects. 

And diabetes hasn’t prevented Sasse from keeping a jam-packed schedule filled with both sports and activities at Smith Center. 

“Sometimes I get down, but most of the time I keep a positive attitude,” said Sasse, the Capitol Federal® True Blue® Student of the Week. “I can do what Johnny down the street can do. He can ride his bike, I can ride my bike. He can go play football, I can go play football. 

“I’m just a normal kid, with just a little something different.”

For his major project last year in the Family, Career and Community Leaders of America program at Smith Center, his adviser, Amy Terrill, helped Sasse plan a project centered around diabetes awareness. The project ended up taking second place in a national FCCLA contest. 

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month, and the color blue is used to represent awareness. This past Tuesday was National Diabetes Awareness Day. 

This week, Sasse organized a fashion show where students would wear as much blue as they could. The school and community has also supported the cause by wearing specified blue clothing items on designated days this month. 

Sasse has given speeches at Smith Center football and basketball games about the disease. Last year, he organized a social media day where students posted pictures and facts about diabetes.

The football team has donned the diabetes awareness ribbon decal on helmets in playoff games during November each of the last two years. 

Sasse’s work ethic and impact at the school has been praised by Smith Center teachers and administrators. 

“Karson Sasse is one amazing young man,” Terrill said. “He never lets his diabetes stop him from participating in an activity and he for sure would never use it as an excuse.  He is the kind of young man that makes those around him better."  

Smith Center Athletic Director Travis Elliott said every teacher at the school who has encountered Sasse will share the same sentiments. 

“He has to deal with everything that any other teenage boy has daily with school, but he also has the added hurdle of keeping his diabetes in check,” Elliott said. “He's a great young man.”

Sasse’s daily routine involves checking his blood sugar about six times on a typical day and he keeps insulin on hand to help manage it. 
 

“I had one major scare,” Sasse said. “I was in third grade and it was over Christmas break. There was one night where I threw up 16 times. I was getting ready to go to bed and I told my mom I was seeing double. When they took me to the hospital they realized I was going into DKA, which is diabetic ketoacidosis. I had to be flown out to Wichita.”

Karson is the son of David and Sherrill Sasse and has two older brothers, Kyle and Kaid.

Kyle was diagnosed with diabetes three years ago at age 19. 

“We really don’t know why I got it at such a young age and why my oldest brother got it when he was 19,” Karson said.

“Some days are rough and other days we are just a normal family,” Sherrill Sasse said. 

Karson Sasse plays football, basketball and golf at Smith Center. In addition to FCCLA, he’s involved in Future Farmers of America, participates in the school play and is a member of the school’s SAFE committee. 

“It gets me out of my house,” Sasse said. “I live out in the country. There’s not a lot of things to do, but there’s some things to do. I just like hanging it out with my friends.”

Sasse’s message to others affected by diabetes is simple. 

“You’re not alone,” he said. 

“If I ever get down, I talk to my parents or talk to God, and He can help me,” Sasse said.