Diabetic hopes look-alike will speak for his cause

Take a look at the picture above. If your'e a basketball fan, you might think you know who it is. Even if you don't know basketbal, you may recognize the athlete Charles Barkley, the superstar hoopster formerly of the Phoenix Suns, now with the Houston Rockets.

But look again. The guy in the photo is not Barkley. His name is Charles, though Charles Ray III. He is a 34-year-old diabetic from Raleigh, N.C., who is on a crusade. His mission: to tell diabetics to take care of themselves by eating right, monitering their blood sugar levels and exercising regularly.

But what Ray would really like is for those words to come from Barkely. "I want to be recogonized for raising the awarness about diabetes," Ray said, "and I figured if Charles Barkley were involved, it would help."

How did Ray come to look like Barkley? One day the club cook shaved his head and suddenly found his friends telling him how much he looked like the famous forward. "One day I decided that if one more person told me I looked like Charles Barkley I was going to make something positive out of it." The "something positive" was an idea Ray hatched to get attention of diabetics and the public. Why not ask Barkley to make a public service announcment with him urging diabetics to live a healthy lifestyle? The notion seemed simple enough, but Ray had to figure out the best way to reach Barkley.

With the help of a Fox Network television affiliate, Ray videotaped a public service announcment that Barkley eventually saw. Some months later, Ray actually met the athlete at a golf tournament. "I asked his golf partner to show my information (about diabetes), and he did," Ray said, 'So you think you looklike me?' "Barkley also asked wheter he and Ray had met before, and Ray reminded him of the public service announcment. "He said he appreciated what I was doing," said Ray, who now understands the importance of good health habits - something he didn't have for the first few years after being diagnosed with juvenile diabetes.

" I was 17 and constantly tired," Ray said. "I'd wake up tired. I'd devour food and still be hungery a few hours later. I lost a lot of weight and was urinating frequently."

When he heard the word "diabetes" he was devastated.

"I thought, 'How am I going to servive?' "He did, but for several years, it was in spite of his lifestyle. "I didn't take care of myself. I just went through motions. I didn't moniter my glucose, and the diabetes got out of control. It was nothing for me to suck up a couple of Big Macs or a fried chicken dinner. I was huge."

He now wears an insulin pump, jogs three miles five times a week and eats right. At 6 feet 4 inches, he weighs about215 punds and plays basketball for fun. He'd love to challenge Barkley to a free-throw contest. "If I win. he donates one hour of time to make a public service announcment about diabetes," Ray said. "I hope he sees all this publicity. It''ll be difficult to ignore it, since he's seen me twice. They say the thrid time's a charm.

By E'louise Ondash
North County Times, Escondido CA