Diabetes is a disease that millions of Canadians live with every day and one that 10-year-old Drew Hall from Winnipeg shares with her favorite singer, Nick Jonas.
"I look up to him because he can do what he does on stage with the same disease," said Hall.
Jonas, the American musician, songwriter and actor was diagnosed with type-1 diabetes when he was 13-years-old.
He met with a group of young diabetics prior to his Monday night concert in Winnipeg.
"It flipped my world upside down, I had to re learn how to do basic things like eating, counting carbs and understanding how the body works,” said Jonas.
“It really took a toll on me physically and mentally."
Jonas hasn't let the condition slow his music career, a message he's relaying to young diabetics on each stop of the 'Future Now: The Tour'.
"I hope to be an example of someone that has dealt with challenges and something that could have really slowed me down but I made a commitment to myself that I wouldn't,” said Jonas. “I promised myself that I wouldn't let it slow me down and I followed my dreams and accomplished everything I wanted to."
Jonas' story is an inspiration to young diabetics like Cruz Carey of Selkirk.
"To be monitoring your diabetes while you are singing and up on stage in front of millions of people, I just find that so neat and it's just something to look up to and says hey that could be me," said Carey, moments before meeting his icon.
