Impact Stories – Cynthia Felton

If you asked Cynthia Felton when the events leading up to her struggle with diabetes began, she can tell you to the date. On March 30, 1996 Cynthia fell off of a ladder while taking inventory at her job. This began her spiral into several surgeries including a total knee replacement and back surgery. With all of the health issues Cynthia had, her doctors put her on Steroids and Prednisone. The mix of these medicines led to the development of Type 2 diabetes. From 2000 to 2013, Cynthia battled with her diabetes diagnosis, the insurance companies, and searched for motivation to get off the couch. Little did she know, the

Family YMCA would be her source of motivation to once again get up and get moving.

In 2013, a friend from church invited Cynthia to workout with her at the Wilson Family YMCA. They began a routine of working out and walking two to three miles every day. As Cynthia spent more time at the Y, she began talking to people and discovered, “I was seeing people who had gone through the same thing I had… and I was getting to tell my story and encouraging other people, which was encouraging me.”

Right around the same time Cynthia began working out, she also started volunteering with the child watch center at the North Augusta Family YMCA. With a love for the children, she began to volunteer on a regular basis and later was hired as a part-time employee. Cynthia also began to make her workout routine more intense by beginning Boot Camp classes at the Wilson Family YMCA.

After taking Boot Camp, Cynthia lost a total of 65 pounds and was taken off of her Insulin and Metformin. Her doctor was ecstatic with the results of Cynthia’s hard work. Cynthia explains, “I have three grandkids and I want to see them grow up, I want to stay happy with my life, and the Y has really worked for me.”