Mom designs undershirt for kids with diabetes

2:51 PM, Jul 20, 2012   |    comments
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EVERETT, Wash. (NBC) -- Talk to Rylee Stark for a few minutes and you can learn a lot about her.

"I am 8 years old, my favorite color is pink, and I do like fashion, a lot," she says.

Part of her fashion is a little pink pocket on her tank top she's wearing, that hides a secret.

"I'm able to do hoola hoop, and do cartwheels, and I don't have to worry about it falling out," says Rylee

The fashion-meets-function pocket was her mom's idea.

"I wanted something that wouldn't be a conversation piece and would make her feel like everybody else," says Corrie Stark.

And it seems to work.

Watching Rylee play soccer and run around in her back yard, you'd never know this little girl with Type 1 diabetes has an insulin pump attached to her abdomen.

"I wanted her to be able to play soccer, jump rope, hoola hoop, and ride a bike without worry about it falling out," says her mom. "Because if it falls out, it could pull that port out of her stomach."

With the help of friends and family, Corrie Stark came up with a tank top line called Rylee's Pocket.

Designed for kids and women with insulin pumps, they can be worn as an trendy undershirt.

"We put a button hole in back so the tubing can go through, and a zipper so it doesn't fall out," says her mom. "And then she goes to school and people say 'I want that tank top. That's so cute. Where did you get it?'"

Her family is now selling the tank tops for boys, girls, and women for $20 each.

The Stark family is trying to raise enough money to provide their tank tops to the all the diabetic kids at ADA Camp Sealth on Vashon Island.

NBC