As a 5-year-old in Bolivia, Brandon Velarde Mariscal was fighting for his life. “My son was dying. He didn’t eat. He couldn’t walk,” said his mother.
After more than a year, Brandon was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Even then, he was given too little insulin, and he continued to lose weight.
Finally, Brandon’s mother found a doctor who stabilized his condition and connected them with a program to get him the insulin he needed – Life for a Child.
Lilly has supplied more than 2 million vials of insulin to the program, which helps young people with diabetes in developing countries. Last year, Lilly insulin helped 19,000 young people in 31 countries.
Now 24, Brandon recently graduated as a dentist and now helps improve health for others. “I want to prove that diabetes hasn’t been an impediment for me. People with diabetes, we can do it.”
00:01-00:09
[Video opens with visuals of a Bolivian flag waving and a busy street. Brandon is sitting with his mother on a couch as she is talking to the camera]
Brandon’s mother: It started when Brandon was four. He started losing weight, stopped eating and started vomiting.
00:09-00:18
[Brandon is sitting in a park setting while talking to the camera and then a photo of Brandon as a child in a traditional Bolivian outfit appears on screen]
Brandon: I remember that I couldn’t walk.
Brandon’s mother: We had to carry him, at six years old, in our arms. He couldn’t move by himself.
00:18-00:43
[Video cuts back to Brandon talking to the camera in a park setting while multiple photographs of Brandon as a child appear on screen]
Brandon: The doctors couldn’t diagnose the problem. They tested my blood sugar, but they cut me with a razor. At that time we didn’t have lancets to prick yourself. They would cut your finger directly. That was really traumatic for me. And they did it every day.
00:43-00:52
[Video cuts back to Brandon sitting with his mother on a couch as she is talking to the camera. A photograph of Brandon with his family appears on screen]
Brandon’s mother: They tested his blood sugar, and it was high. They told me he had diabetes.
00:52-01:10
[Video cuts back to Brandon talking to the camera in a park setting. The screen zooms in on Brandon’s father and mother’s faces in a photograph]
Brandon: They did everything they could to try to cure me. We went to healers. We went to different doctors. They always tried to find a solution, like any mother or father who want their child to be healthy, would do.
01:10-01:24
[Brandon continues talking to the camera and a photograph of Brandon at a desk with an open workbook appears on screen]
Brandon: The Living with Diabetes Center. They opened the door for me. That’s where I learned to control my diabetes, how to take care of myself.
01:24-01:37
[Video cuts back to Brandon sitting with his mother on a couch as she is talking to the camera. A photograph of Brandon and his mother in white coats in front of a dental office appears on screen]
Brandon’s mother: The group, the youth program began helping the parents learn how to handle the situation and think about a future for our children.
01:37-02:02
[Video cuts to Brandon smiling and sitting in a dental office with a white coat while talking to the camera. Photographs of Brandon in the dental office, studying a book with a friend, and smiling at the camera appear on screen]
Brandon: More than anything, I want to be a specialist in orthodontics. And I want to prove that diabetes hasn’t been an impediment for me. It hasn’t kept me from getting to where I am. So, people with diabetes, we can do it.
02:02-02:22
[Photographs of Brandon studying at a desk and laughing with a friend appear on screen. Video cuts back to Brandon sitting in the dental office talking to the camera while photographs of Brandon in a white coat with his mother and smiling at the camera appear on screen]
Brandon: Life for a Child has helped me a lot. Without them, if they didn’t send us the test strips and insulin, I wouldn’t have the control I had. I can do whatever I want, and that’s my biggest dream.
02:22-02:29
[The video fades to a white background and the red Lilly logo appears in red text next to the Life for a Child logo in blue text]