Kentucky Man Raising Diabetes Awareness —

‘He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands’

By Nancy K. Crevier

Newtown residents were surprised on Monday, June 7, to see a 6-foot canvas ball decorated to look like the Earth being rolled down Main Street by two men and a dog. Erik Bendl, his 19-year-old son, Ethan, and Nice the dog, of Louisville, Ky., have the “world on a string,” as Mr Bendl said of the Earth ball tethered to his wrist, and for a good cause.

After losing his mother, Kentucky state representative Gerta Bendl, to diabetes-related illnesses in 1987 at the relatively young age of 54, and then observing how his uncle has led a long and productive life with well-managed diabetes, Mr Bendl has spent the last several summers “moving the Earth” to increase awareness about diabetes.

The idea for using the Earth ball to raise awareness came about when Mr Bendl used the big orb as a game with his then 7-year-old son and friends at a birthday party.

“Our yard wasn’t really big enough to play with it, so we all rolled it down the street to a nearby park. It was so much fun that day, we kept doing it,” laughed Mr Bendl. The ball attracted a lot of attention, and eventually he took up the suggestion that he use the Earth ball to promote a cause.

“It seemed like a good idea, and since I had seen the devastating effects of diabetes with my mom, I decided to promote diabetes health awareness,” Mr Bendl said. “Even though I’m a self-confessed ‘fat boy,’ I believe in the cause,” said the husky Kentuckian.

He has walked, rolling the giant world ball, from Louisville to Lexington, Ky., backed by the American Diabetic Association; from Louisville to Pittsburgh, Penn.; and in 2009, from Louisville to Kansas City, Kan. He has also rolled the world up the Barr Trail on Pike’s Peak in Colorado, “The hardest thing I’ve ever done,” said Mr Bendl. The 80-pound world (200 pounds when the canvas-covered ball, lined with a waterbed-like inner tube, gets wet) has also appeared with Mr Bendl at numerous parades and events over the years.

“I’m trying to change the world one diabetic at a time,” quipped Mr Bendl.

This summer, the carpenter rolled out of Washington, D.C., on Earth Day — Thursday, April 22 — with Nice, and plans to walk in every state in New England on his way to Maine. He was joined by his son on Memorial Day weekend, following one of Ethan’s frequent countrywide hitchhiking tours that have taken the young man all across the country and into Canada.

Slight Change Of Plans

The Bendls more or less blew into Newtown Sunday afternoon along with the fierce storm that had wires down and trees blocking roads all over town. The trio started their walk Sunday morning from Walmart on Route 6 in Danbury, planning to put in the seven to ten miles that they normally do each day. As they approached the intersection of Tory Lane on Mt Pleasant Road, however, the weather turned suddenly ugly.

“Then a big tree crashed to the ground about 50 feet behind us, and a branch came down in front of me,” said Mr Bendl. As the rain poured down, they decided to take refuge in a wooded area between Tory Lane and Route 6, and that is where Joann and Phil Keane’s teenage daughter, Haley, discovered them as she came down their Tory Lane driveway, skirting the fallen tree.

The Keanes offered the Bendls refuge overnight from the storm, and it could not have been a more perfect match, Joann Keane said on Monday morning as the men prepared to leave.

“As we were talking last night, Erik said something about never knowing where the wind will blow you. I try to live my life like that, and I think it’s perfect that the wind blew them to the right house,” said Ms Keane.

The Keanes and the Bendls worked side-by-side to cut up and remove the large tree that was blocking the driveway leading from the Keane home, and handled some other poststorm yard work on Sunday evening. Then the Keanes gave the Bendls a ride back to the Walmart parking lot to fetch their van, fed them dinner, and settled the men in for the night.

“As a carpenter, I get the most satisfaction out of helping people who need help, than out of making money,” said Mr Bendl. “I’ve had it all and I’ve lost it all; but I’ve gained the world,” he chuckled.

The Bendls rely on GPS to get them from the ending point back to their van each day, said Mr Bendl — the Good People System, that is.

“It’s people like the Keanes that help us out all along the way. One woman along the way provided us with new hiking boots and socks. And people along the way give us water, even though we carry several bottles of water with us. It usually all works out, due to grace and serendipity,” he said of the adventure that he saves for all the rest of the year.

The men and their dog always carry a tent and backpack with supplies, just in case a ride back to their van at the starting point is not available. “We have stayed in firehouse parking lots, Walmart parking lots, or church yards,” Mr Bendl said.

As they walk and garner attention, the Bendls encourage people to visit their website (www.WorldGuy.org), and the website of Diabetes Exercise and Sports Association (DESA, found at www.diabetes-exercise.org) to donate and to learn more about preventing and managing diabetes. All of the money donated through worldguy.org will benefit DESA, he said.

Bright and clear skies and a cooling breeze greeted Erik and Ethan Bendl, and Nice, on Monday morning, as they stepped over fallen branches and storm debris, guiding the big Earth ball along Route 6 as they headed toward Rhode Island. They planned to put in as many miles as they could, at a leisurely pace, enjoying the state and the people they meet along the way, Mr Bendl said, and spreading the word about living with diabetes.

“Be fit, be healthy, and be there for your grandchildren is my message,” said Mr Bendl. “If you manage diabetes properly, you can lead a long and healthy life.”