10 year old and his father march across the country for diabetes – WCJB

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- A ten year old with Type 1 Diabetes convinced his dad to march across the country for a cure. Friday, they made a stop in Gainesville.

Robert Barnes and his 10 year old Noah are making their way through about 4,000 miles, and calling it "Noah's March."

Noah's mom Joanne Barnes said, "When I watched them walk away for the first time in Key West, it really did something right here."

Joanne remembers when Noah was first diagnosed. "He was only 16 months old and that's just a baby. He was a little guy who was sick and wasn't getting any better," she said.

"I get 6 to 8 shots a day, sometimes only 2 if I'm stable," said Noah. He came up with the idea when he watched a video about Terry Fox.

"Terry Fox ran across canada with one leg..he had lost a leg to cancer," said Robert, "and he didn't finish, he actually died from it in 1980, and he's like I got two legs, I'm really healthy, I can cross America to fund raise for diabetes."

"I just came up to my dad and said, I don't want to be poked," said Noah.

They are partnering with the UF Diabetes Institute, aiming to raise $30 million. "1 dollar for everyone with diabetes in America," said Robert.

The journey is expected to last about 10 months, so Noah is being home-schooled on the road. "We do multiplication tables, we talk about different things, we have a little game we play it's called road kill trivia and we identify different animals," Robert said.

Robert said they hope their efforts help researchers find a cure. "Roughly somewhere around 10 to 12 percent of the world population. If this isn't fixed here in the next 20-30 years, they're saying one third of the global population is going to have diabetes," he explained.

100% of their donations are going to research. To help Noah march, visit their website to donate.

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10 year old and his father march across the country for diabetes - WCJB