Local teen with dreams of outer space heads to Washington D.C. to advocate for research funding

With dreams of becoming the first person with T1D in space, Laila is headed to Washington D.C. Photo: Laila England

HIGHLAND, Utah— 16-year-old Laila England of Highland, Utah, has been dreaming of becoming the first person with type 1 diabetes (T1D) to travel to space since the fifth grade.

Upon realizing, after a visit to a space camp in Alabama, that T1D patients aren’t allowed to be astronauts, Laila is more determined than ever to make her dream a reality as a Youth Ambassador and advocate for JDRF, a leading organization funding T1D research; she’s fighting for change.

“One of the counselors [at space camp] told me diabetics were not allowed to go into space; through my own research, I found out it is because scientists and doctors don’t know how the zero gravity would affect hand-help insulin vials,” Laila said. “So now I am on a mission to cure diabetes and go to space!”

Laila was diagnosed with T1D at the age of three and attributes much of her ‘normal’ lifestyle to her t:slim X2 insulin pump by Tandem Diabetes Care. The pump delivers insulin constantly and calculates how much she will need based on the information Laila enters regarding her meals.

With the help of technology and perseverance, Laila plans to continue the fight to cure diabetes by advocating, volunteering, raising money for research, and making her voice heard.

“This has been a huge trial in our lives but it’s interesting that through her trials have come some of her greatest triumphs,” said Jaclyn England, Laila’s mother. “Through this struggle, she has become the incredible woman that she is, she is an advocate, and she has found her own voice that I don’t think she would have had otherwise. She has been working so hard to get to Washington D.C. and she is always looking to help someone.”

From July 9-11, Laila will represent Utah in Washington D.C. at The JDRF Children’s Congress, where over 160 youth with T1D meet Congress members to portray what life with T1D is like and why funding for life-changing research is crucial until the discovery of the cure.

Laila has been working towards attending The JDRF Children’s Congress for the past four years. Her determination to make a difference is awe-inspiring.