UK Healthcare Photo
Eleven-year-old Lucas Bratcher of Waynesburg in Lincoln County is the “Lift Them Up Kid of the Game” for Saturday night’s Kentucky-Missouri game.
The Lincoln County student was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes last year and spent four days at Kentucky Children’s Hospital with ketoacidosis, a serious diabetes complication. He continues to receive care at the UK Barnstable Brown Diabetes Center every other month and works to keep his blood sugar under control.
Bratcher was sent to the emergency room by his pediatrician in July of 2022 and found out his blood sugar level was 800+ — a normal blood sugar count is 80-120 for his age. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, a lifelong condition that requires constant monitoring and treatment.
The Lift Them Up program was started in 2018 to uplift patients and families at the UK Children’s Hospital. Each Lift Them Up child gets to lead the team at the Cat Walk in a custom-built push cart that former UK center Luke Fortner, now a starter with the Jacksonville Jaguars, helped design.
Bratcher and his family also got to attend practice Thursday and tour the locker room.
Here is other information in a question-and-answer about Bratcher provided by Alyssa Simon, market development manager for UK Health Care.
Favorite food: Steak
Favorite color: Blue
Favorite animal: Shark
Favorite UK Football player: All of them, but the O-Line is his favorite.
Hobbies: Driving tractors, playing with his sisters, hunting, building with Legos, playing on his Nintendo switch
Describe Lucas’s personality – He is very funny and full of life!
