Holmes vs. SeaWorld - Nick's Story
For all of us with diabetes, we all had that moment when we just knew that doing some things was going to be just a bit more complicated. Rafting trips, air travel, sports and even going to amusement parks. As adults, we are able to make even the most complicated adjustments on the fly because we know ourselves so well. If you have a 3 year old with diabetes, things tend to get a little more sticky.
My daughter, Emma, was diagnosed with type 1 at the tender age of 9 months old and has never known a birthday without diabetes. She is on a Minimed insulin pump and CGMS. Now that she is getting a little bigger, we are trying more and more things such as pre-school and even trips to places like SeaWorld in San Antonio. We thought it would be fun for our family (me, my wife and diabetes-saint Amy who now counts a father, aunt, husband, AND daughter with type 1, our son Brenden, and of course Emma) to take a little jaunt to San Antonio and take the kids to SeaWorld over the Labor Day Weekend. We were prepared for any type of diabetes-related crises with a tractor-trailer full of spare insulin, pump supplies, glucagon, glucose gel and little boxes of juice. We were prepared for everything but what we ended up getting: cold indifference to Emma's special needs from the minute we arrived.
The story is really best told by my wife (Emmasmom) at Children with Diabetes, but here's the gist of it. After paying admission, we went straight to the guest services window to ask for a couple of simple requests that would make our little girl's experience at the park more relaxing for us and more fun for her. We asked that she be given a pass to the front of the lines (Texas heat is NOT good for little ones on insulin pumps), to be allowed to tag her stroller as a wheelchair (so that she can avoid walking and thus dropping her blood sugar as much as possible) and that we be allowed to take her supplies with us to each ride to leave with the operator. Stonewalled. On all counts. The supervisor very rudely informed us that there are no exceptions to their stroller policy, that there was no such pass, and that carrying supplies with us to the rides would also not be allowed. Period. End of story. "Is there someone else we can talk to?" Nope. She was the Queen and Dictator of SeaWorld San Antonio and her word was final...or so she said. I politely informed her that she was violating federal law, and she sharply replied, "Why because I can't help you??" Yes. That's exactly why. And oh, by the way, employees at SeaWorld put a little two-word ditty beneath their names like "Plays piano" or "Math Whiz." Our guest services' ditty? "Helps Kids."
"So can we put our insulin in a fridge in the first aid station?"
"I don't know, it's up to them."
At this point we're getting pissed, and Amy wanted to scratch her eyes out. But sanity prevailed and we just moved on to the bag check where all the straws on Emma's juice boxes (the ones we use to raise her BG) we confiscated for the safety of the animals. And our day there didn't get any better. One ride operator, when told that we couldn't leave her supplies in the stroller while we rode a ride because her life is in that bag - and I swear this is true- actually laughed at us.
If a picture says a thousand words, the picture in Amy's narrative says it all. This was an emergency site change in the filthiest restaurant you've ever seen, and it more or less summarizes not only our debacle at SeaWorld, but our lives as well.
When we returned home, we agreed that we were not going to take this sitting down. I immediately crafted a letter to the Department of Justice formally charging SeaWorld with violating the Americans with Disabilities Act and sent a copy to SeaWorld. Amy posted our experience at www.childrenwithdiabetes.com. As one of the more senior members there, when she speaks, people tend to listen, and we all support each other through the ups and downs of having a child with diabetes. And boy did they support us. After just two weeks, her post, and the two related threads have well over 8000 hits and nearly 200 replies. Not only did they reply, they acted and they blogged. They inundated SeaWorld with letters and emails threatening to never return to SeaWorld.
Shamu had problems. Just a few days ago, Fran Stephenson, director of communications replied (on page 7 of the original post) with what amounted to corporate damage-control. In that post, Fran asked that I call her personally, which I did. I recounted the story and agreed to craft a post on children with diabetes.
We were also offered a free trip to SeaWorld with hotel accommodations, tickets, and meals all covered. I told Fran that I appreciated their efforts, but that I was not going to drop our formal complaint with the Department of Justice. To do so would be cowardly and would undermine the efforts of all those who stood up for us. In addition, after doing some research, we learned that a big conference, the Friends for Life Conference hosted by Children with Diabetes that takes place annually in Orlando, cancelled all events at SeaWorld there after experiencing similar difficulties. SeaWorld needs to learn its lesson, and the only language corporate America understands is the kind that costs them money. Big money.
We are the last family you would expect to bring such a case against a corporate entity; however the strength and unity we have found in the diabetes community has empowered us to take up the fight for the rights of diabetics everywhere. While we appreciate the effort that SeaWorld is putting into the problem, I have resolved myself to make this case our Plessy v. Ferguson if you will.
Many thanks to Kerri for allowing me to tell our story here. I will keep you all involved in what is going on and where these events take us. If you like, you are welcome to share your comments with me at nickdholmes at yahoo dot com or Fran Stephenson at fran dot stephenson at seaworld dot com.
In the past years, I have never been concerned about my health. I thought I was relatively healthy until one and one half years ago when I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. 
facilities embrace family, and cater to children’s activities especially. So I thought a healthy week at an all-day summer camp at our local rec center would be a great experience for Clare since the information booklet glamorized all the outdoor activities and fun the kids would be having – tennis, swimming, ball games, crafts, entertainment. What better fun for five year olds could there be? I was careful to pick a week with no scheduled field trips, and I was deliberate when I explained that I would be handling all the diabetes-related management as we signed up. I have not ever had to entrust Clare to anyone’s care for more than 2 hours who is not directly competent with diabetes management. That’s a fact of our life. One of the biggest parts of this job for me – taking care of a young child with diabetes – is making sure the child has a close to a normal life experience as the other kids in the group. And I’ll gladly pound anyone into the ground who singles out my daughter or discriminates against her in anyway.