Autoimmune disease connects Chiefs player to fan

By Kendra Simpson

One St. Joseph second grader was lucky enough to form a special connection with a player during Chiefs Training Camp, and his kindness and advice have stuck with the boy months later.

After practice, backup tight end Noah Gray was out greeting fans when Noah Lambright caught his attention.

“We were just sitting on the hill watching the practice,” said Tara Lambright, Noah Lambright’s mother. “Noah Gray and a couple other Chiefs players came over for autographs. Everybody heard the crowd yelling ‘Noah!’ So my Noah said, ‘I’m going to tell him that’s my name.’ Noah started waving and said, ‘Hi Noah, my name’s Noah, too,’ and he said, ‘Hi buddy, how are you?’ and he immediately noticed Noah’s insulin pump on his waistband.”

Noah Lambright was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was just 5 years old. The autoimmune disease develops from the pancreas not creating enough natural insulin. If not treated, Type 1 diabetes could lead to long-term health complications including heart disease, stroke, eye or kidney disease, or in extreme cases, death.

Thanks to her nursing background, Tara Lambright was able to spot the disease early on and was able to get her son the help he needed. Since then, the family has been an advocate for Type 1 diabetes awareness, the symptoms and erasing the stigma behind it.

“For him, if he doesn’t have insulin … he has to have it to live, it’s something that he’s going to have forever,” said Tony Lambright, Noah Lambright’s father.

“You don’t see a lot of very athletic people that have Type 1 diabetes,” Noah Lambright said.

The family believes that Noah’s diagnosis has helped them spread awareness and help others who deal with the disease.

“Facebook, social media, people I’ve worked with have come to me and asked me about symptoms,” Tara Lambright said. “It could be other illnesses, but some red flags that you see with either Type 1 or 2 is excessive thirst, excessive urination, excessive hunger. So if anybody has symptoms, they should be checked by a health care provider immediately.”

Unknown to the family, Gray also had Type 1 diabetes. After seeing Noah Lambright’s insulin pump, Gray shared his story and encouraged the boy to never give up.

“Noah Gray notices my pump and he says that he has one too,” Noah Lambright said. “And then after that, he signed my shirt.”

When thinking back on the experience, Noah Lambright said, “It felt really great.”

After a short exchange, Gray signed Lambright’s T-shirt and encouraged him the beat the odds. The family said they hope to meet Gray again soon and maybe include an autographed football to their collection.

“I think it’s really neat and it just shows a lot of awareness that you can do anything in life if you put your mind to it and take care of your Type 1,” Tara Lambright said. “Gray told him, ‘Don’t give up and just stay hard and manage your illness.’”