Lilly Diabetes Announces Once Upon A Time Contest Winner

INDIANAPOLIS, July 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

News Highlights

• Lilly #Diabetes sending winning family to #FFL12
• Once Upon A Time Contest celebrates life with type 1 #diabetes #FFL12
• Family wins trip to annual #FFL12 from Lilly #Diabetes Once Upon A Time Contest

Lilly Diabetes today announced Meri Schuhmacher as the winner of its Once Upon A Time Contest. Lilly Diabetes created the Contest to spark a national dialogue about type 1 diabetes by asking family members to write about their experience with diabetes. The Contest launched at the same time Lilly Diabetes and Disney announced a new collaboration to combine Lilly's deep understanding of diabetes with Disney magic to provide inspiration, education and practical advice for caregivers and people with type 1 diabetes.

"Winning this contest means so much to my family," said Meri Schuhmacher. "Living with type 1 diabetes can be challenging, but also inspiring. The Once Upon A Time Contest reminds us to celebrate our lives with diabetes, and the Friends for Life annual meeting is the ultimate way to do that while we connect with other families with similar experiences.  We can't wait to attend!"

Schuhmacher's winning entry shared her story as the mother of four boys, three of whom are living with type 1 diabetes. Her inspiring essay is featured on Disney Family.com's type 1 diabetes website, www.family.com/type1. The Schuhmacher family lives in Petaluma, CA.

Launched in July 2011, the Once Upon A Time Contest encouraged parents and caregivers to submit an original written work inspired by their child's experience with type 1 diabetes. The winning entry was determined by a panel of independent judges. The Schuhmachers were awarded a five-day/four-night trip to the 2012 children with DIABETES annual conference, Friends for Life, in Orlando, FL, from July 3-8, 2012.

About Lilly Diabetes

Lilly has been a global leader in diabetes care since 1923, when we introduced the world's first commercial insulin. Today we work to meet the diverse needs of people with diabetes through research and collaboration, a broad and growing product portfolio and a continued commitment to providing real solutions—from medicines to support programs and more—to make lives better. For more information, visit www.lillydiabetes.com.

About Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY)

Lilly, a leading innovation-driven corporation, is developing a growing portfolio of pharmaceutical products by applying the latest research from its own worldwide laboratories and from collaborations with eminent scientific organizations. Headquartered in Indianapolis, IN, Lilly provides answers—through medicines and information—for some of the world's most urgent medical needs. Additional information about Lilly is available at www.lilly.com.  C-LLY

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SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company