Doctor from Haiti set to run Grandma's Half Marathon for his 400 diabetic patients

Grandma's Marathon hosts runners from all over the world. This year, one doctor from Haiti will go the distance for the sake of his patients who mean the world to him. Dr. Emmanuel "Manno" Mareus cares for 400 diabetic patients in Limbe, Haiti. One hundred of them are insulin dependent. Dr. Manno said, "in Haiti if you live in the country side area, being a diabetic is a death sentence." He says insulin treatments costs 50 dollars a month. For most of his patients who only make a dollar a day, that means staying alive is not affordable. Dr. Manno, though, doesn't put a price tag on life. "It's a big family," he said. "They're the reason why I wake up every morning. They give my life a sense." He's taking his practice outside of the clinic and running 13.1 miles in his patients' shoes.  "Last year when I was here, I heard about this race and I said I'd like to do it to raise money for the diabetic patients that cannot afford insulin." Dr. Manno has been training for Grandma's Half Marathon for over a year. "All I want is to be able to get more insulin and not be able to say to patients we don't have insulin," he said. "That's the worst experience for me when we run out and don't have money to buy it." Dr. Manno will not turn patients away even if they cannot afford his care. It's what he calls 'agape care.'

posted Tuesday June 12th