Rick was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 13. Even though this is a horrible disease, he never let that stop him. He played football and ran track and field in high school. At the age of 35 he received a kidney transplant after being of dialysis for years. Rick looked like a new man. In December of 2006, Rick suffered a stroke. He recovered and finally came home from the hospital. We, as his family, were thrilled. But the happiness soon turned to sadness on August 19,2007. Rick passed away due to renal failure.