If you were to look up the definition of “diabetes” on the internet you would find a few definitions like this:
“a polygenic disease characterized by abnormally high glucose levels in the blood”,
“disease caused primarily by the destruction of islet cells that produce insulin in human bodies”,
“chronic illness causing high blood sugar levels; often treated with the drug insulin”.
Blah, blah, blah.

When my brother Matthew was diagnose with type 1 diabetes at the age of four, my family and I didn’t care about these big fancy medical terms. All we cared about was my brother getting better. When a person with no exposure to diabetes reads these definitions, the only words that stick out are: disease, abnormally, chronic illness, and destruction. That’s all that stood out to us. It was a scary time. My family and I thought the world was coming to an end. Every day brought new worries. But now, nine years later, those worries have come to an end.

My little brother, Matthew, is one amazing kid. He plays football, basketball, and a mean trombone. Matthew is your average thirteen year old boy, but really he's not. He's so much more. Matthew is stronger than the average thirteen year old.

Yeah, he’s got diabetes. So what? He handles it better than most adults. He participates in every activity he sets his mind to and he doesn’t let this “chronic illness” stop him. That is why my brother, Matthew, is my hero.

Dictionary.com defines hero as "a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities". Yeah, that's more fitting.