Talk to Rylee Stark for a few minutes and you can learn a lot about her.
"I am 8-years-old, my favorite color is pink, and I do like fashion, a lot," she says.
Part of her fashion is a little pink pocket on her tank top she's wearing, that hides a secret.
"I'm able to do hula hoop, and do cartwheels, and I don't have to worry about it falling out," says Rylee
The fashion-meets-function pocket was her mom's idea.
"I wanted something that wouldn't be a conversation piece and would make her feel like everybody else," says Corrie Stark.
And it seems to work.
Watching Rylee play soccer and run around in her back yard, you'd never know this little girl with Type 1 diabetes has an insulin pump attached to her abdomen.
"I wanted her to be able to play soccer, jump rope, hula hoop, and ride a bike without worry about it falling out," says her mom. “Because if it falls out, it could pull that port out of her stomach."
With the help of friends and family, Corrie Stark came up with a tank top line called Rylee's Pocket.
Designed for kids and women with insulin pumps, they can be worn as an trendy undershirt.
"We put a button hole in back so the tubing can go through, and a zipper so it doesn't fall out," says her mom. "And then she goes to school and people say "I want that tank top. That's so cute. Where did you get it?"
Her family is now selling the tank tops for boys, girls, and women for $20 each.
The Stark family is trying to raise enough money to provide their tank tops to the all the diabetic kids at ADA Camp Sealth on Vashon Island.
For more information, go to http://www.facebook.com/RyleesPocket.
TXT 24
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