It may look like a cellphone, an MP3 player or some other cool electronic device. But Aidan Woodward’s insulin pump wasn’t a toy.
The 13-year-old with Type 1 diabetes relied on it for constant delivery of the drug that keeps him alive. Aidan, of Baltimore, was wearing both his pump and a continuous glucose monitor when he traveled to Atlanta on a weekend school trip with his show choir, his mom said Tuesday.
In a tiny bathroom stall, Aidan changed costumes and quickly disconnected his insulin pump and put down his glucose monitor.
“He was in a rush because they were trying to go on stage,” his mom, Trish Woodward, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Before going on stage, Aidan went back to get his pump and monitor, but both were gone.
“I’m sure it was a kid that just didn’t know what he was taking,” Trish Woodward said.
After the performance, chaperones alerted park security and numerous people joined in the search to find Aidan’s pump.
“We looked everywhere,” Aidan told Channel 2 Action News. “We looked in the trash cans. We went to the lost and found. We looked everywhere.”
Aidan was prepared with a supply of syringes so that he could inject insulin. But he desperately needs his pump back, and his family is hopeful someone will find it and turn it in to park officials or police. Until then, Aidan must rely on multiple daily injections. On Monday, he needed eight shots, his mom said.
The Animas Ping pump costs just over $6,000, much of which is often covered by medical insurance. Aidan’s pump was still under warranty, but that warranty doesn’t provide a new device if a pump is lost or stolen, his mother said.
“We’ve taken many steps backwards in managing his diabetes,” Trish Woodward said. “Someone knows where this is and may not know how critical it is to one person.”
Six Flags Over Georgia officials said Tuesday they are continuing to search for Aidan’s pump.
“We are exhausting all means possible to find not only this insulin pump, but we would do it for other items that went missing as well,” Gene Petriello, Six Flags spokesman, told Channel 2.
In case it isn't found, a family friend set up a Go Fund Me page to help raise money to buy Aidan a new pump.
“I really, really need it,” Aidan said. “I can forgive you.”
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