StemCell Therapy

PELHAM The father-and-son duo display good humor with their bicycle team's name the Mustache Guys and serious dedication to beating a formidable disease that a family member has had for 46 years.

Paul Dadak and his son, Zachary, will push off from the Topsfield Fairgrounds on May 21 and bike 62 miles for Ann Dadak, Paul's wife and Zachary's step-mother.

Ann, a Type 1 diabetic, is touched by their dedication.

"I feel incredible loved and supported that they are willing to do this year after year, and that they are committed as I am to finding a cure," she said.

Paul, 69, and Zachary, 34, will ride in the North Shore Tour de Cure, the largest fundraising event for American Diabetes Association in New England.

Paul, a Pelham resident since 1981, has biked the ride at least 18 years, raising more than $10,000 in total.

The father and son want everyone to know the hardship and health hazards that diabetes poses, especially the Type 1 variety, which affects about 5 percent, or 1.25 million, of the more than 29 million Americans with diabetes.

Diabetes can be deadly, or lead to blindness, circulation problems, amputations or heart disease.

Paul Dadak is no stranger to heart disease.

Ten days after the Tour de Cure he rode in spring 2015, Dadak felt a slight pressure in his chest, like a bite from a peanut butter sandwich was lodged in his chest.

He had it checked and learned he had significant blockage and a weakened coronary artery.

He underwent double by-pass heart surgery.

He slowly got back on his feet and resumed biking.

"I will ride until I can't ride anymore or until it is cured," he said.

It irks Paul to hear people talk on television about how diabetes is a lifestyle disease, implying that it is people's fault that they got the disease.

The immune system in people with Type 1 diabetes destroys pancreatic beta cells that make insulin.

"When you have Type 1 your pancreas doesn't work," he says.

Money raised in the Tour de Cure will primarily go to research to find a cure for disease, says Tara Greeley, who manages the Tour de Cure New England.

It also funds programming and advocacy including summer camps for children with diabetes.

The Tour de Cure, which includes live music and lunch and education tents, celebrates everyone's efforts, not the least of which are the riders wearing red jerseys, known as Red Riders. They are people with diabetes.

Red Riders lead each race and speak before the group pedals off. There will be about 120 of them in this year's ride.

"If you see a Red Rider you should yell 'Go, Red Rider,'" Greeley said.

Dadak, who grew up on a chicken farm in Dracut, and became an engineer working for companies including Hewlett-Packard, now works at the Lowell National Historical Park for the Tsongas Industrial History Center.

Ann Dadak works for Road Scholar, which organizes educational tours throughout the country and world.

Paul Dadak and his son enjoy biking together, riding side-by-side, and chatting over the miles, talking politics or wherever the conversation leads.

When it came time to brainstorm a name for their bike team, Paul thought of mustaches.

He has had one ever since his son was born, and Paul wears it in the style of his hero, Mark Twain.

Meanwhile, his son, Zachary, does not have mustache but will wear a party store variety glued under his nose.

Their goals remains the same. Inform more people about the disease, and, most importantly, find a cure.

To donate to Paul's ride: main.diabetes.org/goto/pdadak

For more information: diabetes.org/northshoretour

See the rest here:
Mustache Guys ride to leave diabetes behind - Eagle-Tribune

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