The Akin family — from left are Norah, Christina, Jonah and Justin — poses for a photo at a hotel in Washington, D.C. prior to an Atlanta Braves vs. Washington Nationals game Aug. 14. The family of Braves fans wanted to see the team in person because outfielder Adam Duvall and Jonah both have Type 1 diabetes. Submitted photo
On a cold, winter day back in January 2020, Justin and Christina Akin took their two children, Jonah and Norah, to a jump park in Erie, Pennsylvania.
It was the first time the Mayville family had been to a jump park, and while the children loved it, Jonah spent a lot of time in the bathroom.
The next night, Jonah had an overnight accident, which was unusual for the 7-year-old.
“The following day Chrissy was concerned because he was out of it,” Justin recalled recently. “She tested his blood sugar and it was 560.”
Christina herself is a diabetic so she knows the signs and symptoms. The couple immediately rushed their son to Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo where Jonah was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
Jonah Akin holds a baseball given to him by Atlanta Braves outfielder Adam Duvall. Submitted photo
“He’s kind of a matter-of-fact guy,” Justin said of Jonah. “He thought, ‘my pancreas doesn’t work, it’s cool.'”
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Justin himself grew up an Atlanta Braves fan so when the time came for his son to become a fan, the Braves became Jonah’s team, too.
It just so happens that one of the Braves has a very personal experience with Type 1 diabetes.
In the spring of 2012, after showing up to spring training underweight, a blood test confirmed that Braves minor leaguer Adam Duvall had Type 1 diabetes.
Atlanta Braves outfielder Adam Duvall is pictured with Jonah Akin, his sister Norah and mother Christina following an Aug. 14 game against the Washington Nationals in Washington, D.C. Submitted photo
One of about 1.25 million Americans with Type 1 diabetes, Duvall began monitoring his blood sugar — even during games. According to a 2018 article published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Duvall wears a glucose sensor on one side of his stomach and an insulin pump is connected to the other side of his stomach.
If his blood sugar is high, Duvall will adjust his insulin dose. If his blood sugar drops too low, he’ll reach for Gatorade or glucose tablets.
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Justin is a part of an Atlanta Braves fan group on Facebook and he mentioned his son’s diagnosis on the page while he was planning a family trip to Florida in the spring of 2020.
“When Jonah was diagnosed, we had already planned a vacation to Florida. I said to Chrissy, ‘Let’s swing by Atlanta on the way to Florida. I’d love for Jonah’s first baseball game to be in Atlanta,” Justin recalled. “I’d love to provide him with an experience and show that it’s not just doom and gloom — life with diabetes.”
Atlanta Braves outfielder Adam Duvall hands a ball to Jonah Akin of Mayville. Submitted photo
While Justin was discussing his planned trip to Atlanta with the Facebook group, he was asking which sections were the best to sit in at Truist Park, the home of the Braves.
Eventually, a woman named Anita caught wind of the Akins’ story.
“This lady didn’t even live in Georgia, but her mother battled Type 1 all of her life and to honor her mother who had passed away a year ago from the day she messaged me, Anita wanted to buy us tickets,” Justin said. “I never wanted a handout, but this lady wanted to honor her mother. … She said she’d hook us up with the Bobblehead Package, which included tickets right behind the Braves dugout for like $800. I was awe-struck.”
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Unfortunately for the Akins, their trip — and the start of the Major League Baseball season — was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Norah and Jonah Akin hold up a sign they made for Atlanta Braves outfielder Adam Duvall. Submitted photo
Duvall hit 16 home runs in 57 games for the Braves in 2020, driving in 33 runs with a .237 batting average. In the offseason, he signed with the Miami Marlins and Justin thought his opportunity to meet Duvall at a Braves’ game may have gone by the wayside.
But on July 30 of this year, the Braves reacquired Duvall in a trade with the Marlins.
With only a couple of months left in the season, Justin began scrambling to check the Braves’ road schedule and see if they would be close to Western New York at all.
Atlanta had already made its yearly trip to Pittsburgh to face the Pirates, but the Braves still had some road games left in Washington, D.C.
Having already made several camping trips this summer, Justin told Christina they had to visit the nation’s capital.
“We’d already traveled 30 days for camping this summer and now it was crunch time to set up classrooms,” said Justin, who is beginning a new sixth-grade science and social studies teaching job at his alma mater, Chautauqua Lake, next week. “I said, ‘Let’s drive to D.C. and watch a game or two. … We got tickets for Saturday (Aug. 14) and a hotel in Arlington (Virginia). … It was the first time the kids have seen a metro area.”
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The Akins’ seats were as close to left field as possible — not coincidentally Duvall’s side of the outfield. The family created a sign that read “Duvall You’re the 1 who’s just our TYPE” because they “wanted to recognize his diabetes on the sign itself,” according to Justin.
The previous night’s game didn’t finish until after midnight so not very many players took the field for batting practice Saturday. After recognizing a couple of relief pitchers, the Akins realized they would have to wait until the game for a chance to meet Duvall.
“Most of the people in our section were Nationals fans, except a couple right along the railing,” Justin said. “They called Jonah over and tried to get Duvall’s attention. … Then in the second inning, the ball girl on the field started to help.”
Eventually Duvall looked at the Akins’ sign and saw his name. He then pulled his insulin pump out of his pocket and showed it to Jonah. Throughout the game, every time Duvall ventured out to left field, he would salute Jonah or point at him.
“It was fun to watch that interaction throughout the game,” Justin said.
Duvall took his final at-bat during the top of the ninth inning. The Braves were already leading 11-2, but Duvall was 0 for 3 at that point.
Then a little magic happened.
After watching a 94 mph sinker and then swinging through a 95 mph sinker, Duvall smashed a 93 mph fastball into the seats for a home run.
“We were going nuts,” Justin recalled. “He came out to left field for the bottom of the ninth inning, looked at us and then pointed toward the dugout.”
After the final out of the game, the Akins made their way down to the Braves dugout where Duvall met them at field level.
“We started talking to him and explaining that we had come to visit him,” Justin said. “He was talking to Jonah and telling him to make sure he kept his numbers in check.”
While talking to the Akins, Duvall pulled out the bat that he had used to hit his ninth-inning home run and gave it to Jonah. The Akins offered their sign to Duvall, but instead he signed it and let them keep it.
“He was such a down-to-earth guy. I was awe-struck at the whole experience,” Justin said. “He was talking to my wife about their diabetes experiences.”
It just so happened that Saturday, Aug. 14 was also fireworks night at Nationals Park.
So while the Akins were meeting Duvall in person for the first time, fireworks were illuminating the Washington, D.C. skyline in the background.
“I was getting pictures of my wife, Jonah and Norah with Adam Duvall, with fireworks going off in the background,” Justin said. “We just sat there next to the field, Jonah holding a bat covered in pine tar … with this huge grin on his face.”
A figurative home run.
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