Jerry Stackhouse promotes Diabetes Awareness as Healthy Lifestyles Ambassador

Brooklyn Nets guard Jerry Stackhouse has a personal connection to diabetes: two of his older sisters passed away from complications associated with type 2 diabetes, and his mother and father both live with the disease. Because of that, Stackhouse has signed up to be a Healthy Lifestyles Ambassador.

Stackhouse has worked with a host of different charities, including the American Diabetes Association, JRDF, and Partner Up For Diabetes Awareness, and is the founder of the Triple Threat Foundation. Stackhouse has also addressed Congress twice about funding diabetes research.

Stackhouse hopes to reach as many people as possible about the warning signs of diabetes:

“I want to make people aware of signs that they should take to heart. For instance, if you’re in the grocery store and have trouble reading signs, frequently have to use the bathroom or have a family history of diabetes like I do, you should get tested,” he said. “I know that I am not completely out of the woods because I have family members who live with diabetes, so I try to eat right, exercise and do all the things that I preach to other people about staying healthy.”

Stackhouse, who reiterates that he’d like to coach after his playing career, notes a shocking statistic from the American Diabetes Association: an estimated seven million people currently live with the disease and are unaware. “I want to help them get the information they need to get tested and help manage it.”