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Jacob Van Landingham (Aug., 2019, main image)

Tech receiver tackling diabetes in pursuit of his dream

Jacob Van Landingham takes insulin shots daily and conscientiously manages his diet in hopes of getting on the football field for the Hokies this fall

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Jimmy Robertson Football 8/14/2019 1:28:00 PM
By Jimmy Robertson
 
BLACKSBURG – The Virginia Tech football team possesses no shortage of toughness, with its array of brawny, tenacious and resilient players.
 
And no shortage of candidates makes naming the toughest player on the squad a laborious task. There is no scientific formula for measuring such a process, which makes analytical types uneasy.
 
For sure, though, one of the toughest players on the roster is probably one of the least known. 
 
Jacob Van Landingham, a receiver from Central Tennessee, once spent three days in a hospital, listened as doctors diagnosed his ailment as type 1 diabetes, returned home and decided to play in a seven-on-seven football game later that same day.
 
Such toughness certainly ranks as off the charts, right?
 
"My mom was like, 'No, I don't think this is a good idea,'" Van Landingham said, with a smile. "I'm like, 'No, I'm going anyway.'"
 
Amazingly these days, Van Landingham is on a Division I football roster with a condition that he will have for the rest of his life. Now in his second season at Tech, the Franklin, Tennessee product meticulously manages his dietary intake daily, takes insulin shots as needed, and wears a medical device during practices that monitors his glucose levels – all while managing his diabetes, attempting to move up the depth chart, and pursuing a dream of playing Division I football.
 
For the backstory, Van Landingham played both football and soccer at Page High School, and he attended numerous camps during his springs and summers. But in the summer before his senior season – around the July 4 holiday – he stayed at home with nothing going on and started feeling poorly. He lost weight and his fingers started feeling numb. His parents took him to the local hospital.
 
On July 8, 2017, he received his diagnosis – type 1 diabetes.31729
 
"When I went to the hospital, and they said I had it, I immediately thought, 'Oh my gosh, I can't  play football anymore. What am I going to do?'" Van Landingham said. "My dad is freaking out – my dad's brother had it. But I found out from the doctors that, 'No, you'll still be able to do everything. You'll have a normal life. You'll just have to monitor it a little differently.' But I was definitely very, very nervous that football wouldn't be an option for me."
 
For those unfamiliar with type 1 diabetes, it is a chronic condition in which the pancreas produces little to no insulin. Insulin allows sugar (glucose) to enter into a body's cells to produce energy, making it of vital importance to the body. There is no cure for diabetes, though it can be managed.
 
Van Landingham and his family educated themselves on the condition and ways to regulate it. He ate the right way and carried snacks with him. He gave himself a finger stick at halftime of games during his senior season, testing the glucose levels in his blood with a blood sugar meter. If he needed insulin, he gave himself a shot.
 
He enjoyed a successful senior campaign, which led to him receiving a walk-on invitation here at Virginia Tech. He turned down some offers at smaller schools to pursue his dream.
 
Once here, he and his family met with Peter Ritz in Tech's sports nutrition office to go over his condition. Ritz oversees nutrition for the football program.
 
"We had a conversation about how it had all started and where he was in the process of his diagnosis," Ritz said. "Both his parents and Jake have a very good understanding how to work around having diabetes. He's very in tune with his body, which is a huge advantage for him and myself. We don't have to put as much energy into making sure he's safe. Not that we're not doing that, but we can spend more time tailoring things to what his performance goals are.
 
"By the time he got here, he had a good understanding of what a portion of carbohydrates looked like and how his body responded at specific times during the day. For me, the challenge was he wanted to gain some weight, but it was trying to figure out how to do that without recklessly adding calories and carbohydrates where we wouldn't have good blood glucose control over the course of the day."
 
It took some adjusting on Van Landingham's part, too. He measures his intake of carbohydrates at each meal to make sure he eats just the right amount, and at first, that was a guessing game. After all, monitoring his diet is only a part of the process.
 
Virginia Tech's strength and conditioning workouts and practices are obviously much more strenuous than those he went through during his high school career, so Van Landingham needed to learn what he could handle. On one occasion, Ritz and the sports medicine staff pulled him to the side just as a precaution.
 
"Levels can go too high or too low, and either one can be a bad thing," Ritz said. "We can adjust by looking at what he's eating before and during practice, but the tricky part is it's not just diet that influences that. Exercise has a big impact, and he's had to flexibly adapt to that over time."
 
"When I first got here, it was very, very rough," Van Landingham said. "Before I got here, I was very in tune. When I got here last summer, there was a lot more running, a lot more working out, and it was a lot more intense, so I had to adjust. That happens pretty often."

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The nutrition and the sports medicine staff staffs keep close tabs on Van Landingham during workouts and practices in part by watching him and in part through a device called a Dexcom. The device has a small filament wire that one inserts just under the skin, and Van Landingham currently wears this on his left bicep. An adhesive patch holds the Dexcom in place, and a sensor measures glucose readings, updating every five minutes and providing the most timely and accurate of information.
 
A student trainer who works with the receivers stands near Van Landingham during practices and keeps the monitor, examining it regularly in case of any abnormal readings. Ritz, too, checks in on Van Landingham two or three times over the course of a practice just to make sure that he feels good.
 
Van Landingham still gives himself shots four to five times a day, but there have been no incidents.
 
"I think I was always pretty aware of me and what was going on with my body even before diabetes. I'm pretty in tune," he said. "If I feel off, I can usually tell, whether I have really, really high blood sugar, or I'm really low and need a snack. I don't know why that is. I think it's kind of a habit. You can just feel what it is. You just figure it out based on how you feel and whether you're sluggish or not. I'm lucky to have that ability."
 
His ability to manage type 1 diabetes has enabled him to show his abilities on the football field. He worked as a running back and a quarterback on the scout team a year ago while taking a redshirt season, and head coach Justin Fuente thought so much of his practice work that he had Van Landingham dress out for three games – Georgia Tech, Marshall and Cincinnati. He ran Georgia Tech's detailed option offense perfectly in practices leading up to that game, and he signaled in the plays during the Military Bowl.
 
He works mostly at receiver, and he hopes to carve a role on special teams, too.
 
"I've had the ability to learn a lot of positions," Van Landingham said. "I definitely think I'm making progress. I'm working hard and doing all these things … . I think that puts me in a pretty good spot. Versatility is my thing. And special teams, of course … I think special teams is important. I'm just trying to find my way on the field – offense, defense, wherever I fit."
 
"Jake is the reason that Jake is doing as well as he is," Ritz said. "No one on the support staff is the reason why he's done as well as he has. At the end of the day, we're here to support Jake in what he's doing. He's obviously been very successful at handling that and managing that."
 
Perhaps more importantly, Van Landingham serves as an example for the more than 30 million Americans who deal with diabetes daily. He uses his social media accounts to educate fans (follow him on Instagram and Twitter), and he often offers words of wisdom to young kids battling diabetes. At each of Tech's past two Fan Appreciation Days, kids with diabetes have attended and talked with Van Landingham about their paths.
 
In addition, he volunteers with a local branch of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, all in an effort to promote the foundation's importance, and more importantly, to mentor young kids in a similar situation as him.
 
"Although it's a disease that I'll have, it's a blessing in disguise that I can promote it and help kids who are in my situation," he said. "It would suck to be diagnosed at 10, 11 or 12.  Luckily, I was almost an adult, so I was able to take the responsibility. Being a 10-year-old in fifth grade, I can't imagine the difficulties you have in giving yourself a shot in front of other 10-year-olds. It's a big responsibility.
 
"But to be able to promote it, and to try, of course, to find a cure, that's the goal. And helping kids who are definitely less fortunate than I was, it's pretty cool."
 
So if fans are looking to ascertain the toughest guy on Virginia Tech's roster, they should certainly consider Van Landingham. Truthfully, he may just have the kindest heart as well.
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Players Mentioned

Jacob Van Landingham

#45 Jacob Van Landingham

WR
5' 11"
Redshirt Freshman

Players Mentioned

Jacob Van Landingham

#45 Jacob Van Landingham

5' 11"
Redshirt Freshman
WR
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