July 16, 2010
By Rachel Hood / Special to the Patriot
Canyon plays a few of his songs and talks about his experiences living with diabetes. He advised the children to test often and know their bodies because everyone is different and will react differently to blood sugar imbalances. (Rachel Hood)
Award-winning country singer George Canyon visited Camp Aldersgate on Monday to show children that they can follow their dreams while living with diabetes.
Canyon, a Nova Scotia native who was the 2004 runner-up on “Nashville Star,” was diagnosed with Type I diabetes at the age of 14. Today, he uses his musical achievements to inspire children to accomplish their dreams, despite their condition.
His appearance in Little Rock is a part of a Diabetes Youth Camp, sponsored by the American Diabetes Association, from Sunday through Friday at Camp Aldersgate. Among the children scheduled to attend were some from Jacksonville.
Canyon said he dreamed of becoming a pilot as a child; however, his diagnosis prevented him from pursuing his goal at the time. He studied medicine before leaving college to focus on his music career.
While keeping other jobs to support his family, Canyon played his music on the side. In 2003, he began to focus on music full-time and soon was chosen to audition for “Nashville Star.”
Canyon’s success with the show propelled him to the top of Canadian country music charts. He has earned several awards, including two Junos, for original hits, such as “My Name” and “I Want You to Live.”
The fans’ choice awards he has won for Entertainer of the Year and Songwriter of the Year are the ones of which he is most proud, he said, “because the fans are the reason I get to do what I do.”
Canyon said he did not have role models who were Type I diabetics and “living their dreams,” while he was growing up. About five years ago, Canyon said, he was at a point in his career where he wanted to reach out to children and their families to tell them, “If you control your disease, you can live your dreams.”
In 2006, he collaborated with the Animus Corp., a Johnson & Johnson Co., to reach out to Type I diabetic children in Canada with meet-and-greet sessions before his shows.
“It kind of showed the kids ‘Look, I take care of myself so I get to live my dreams,’” he said.
This year, Canyon is visiting diabetes camps in the United States between his summer tour dates in Canada to continue spreading his message.
When he visits the camps, he said, he typically gathers people together with his music, and then shares his story of living with diabetes. He said that because he has been able to control his disease, he is now an honorary colonel in the Canadian Air Force.
“There’s lots of dreams that I was told I would never live when I got diabetes at 14 that I’m now living,” he said. “So we’re really trying to get the word out to these kids that they need to take care of themselves and here’s why.”
He said he also interacts with parents to give them a different message. According to Canyon, “80 percent of the control with diabetes is psychological … you need to make certain, ‘healthy mind, healthy body.’”
He explained that children and teenagers who often say they “forgot to take their insulin” are not really forgetting, but often are feeling defeated and ostracized by their disease. With newer technologies for diabetics, he added, children who learn to take control of diabetes early can begin regaining control over their lives.
Canyon said the circumstances in his life have allowed him to live for the present day and not focus too much on the future.
“I don’t have any [plans] because I’m just grateful for every day I get. So I live every day to the fullest and enjoy that blessing, and then, what will be will be,” he said.
