By THERESA HOGUE
Gazette-Times reporter | Posted: Tuesday, September 30, 2008 12:00 am
Brandi Berger is positively glowing as she describes the perfection that is the Nike Air Force 1 shoe in her hand.
The second-generation Corvallis teen is one of six Doernbecher Children's Hospital patients chosen to design a special-edition 2008 Nike shoe through the Doernbecher Freestyle program.
Berger, 14, who has juvenile diabetes, spent a year working with two of Nike's top designers to create a shoe that reflects her personality. The shoe, a blue and white Air Force 1, has a number of subtle details that are visible only upon inspection; from the faint white wings with Berger's initials hidden inside to the blue medical alert symbol on the tongue to the interior, which has the black silhouette of Berger's six cows on the insole.
"It was a surprise touch," she said. "I absolutely loved it."
The shoe will be sold for a limited time at Nike stores and on-line. It has raised $11,000 so far through an auction held last week. In total, the Freestyle program raised $280,000 so far this year for Doernbecher.
And although the design may be whimsical, the program means a great deal to Berger and the other designers.
Berger was 4 years old when she was diagnosed with Type 1 juvenile diabetes after experienced the classic symptoms - she'd become lethargic and lost weight. Her family was already familiar with the disease. Her father, Craig, had been diagnosed at the age of 3.
As soon as she was diagnosed and doctors were able to get her system regulated, she began on a daily insulin plan.She had to alter her diet dramatically, and she's now become hyper-aware of everything she eats.
"I have to know how many carbs it has, and how much sugar," Berger said. This year, her life improved dramatically when she switched from injections to an insulin pump that she carries on her hip. It's connected via a tube that delivers insulin to her body at regular intervals, eliminating the need for shots.
"It's not in the way, ever," she said, hiking up her shirttail to reveal the cell-phone sized pump attached to her jeans.
Berger plans to study sports medicine in college, and is seriously considering Oregon State University. She said being a life-long diabetic has made her acutely aware of how what we put into our bodies affects our health.
"I want to pass that knowledge along," she said. The path to that goal came via Nike.
Last year, during a routine appointment at Doernbecher, several of her doctors asked her to consider participating in the Freestyle project. She said she loved the idea, and was soon playing with different colors and symbols for her designer Air Force 1s.
"I went to town with everything I wanted," she said with a laugh.
She wanted to design a shoe that appealed to men and women; to world-class athletes as well as those who work out primarily on weekends. Her favorite color is blue, so she worked with a palette of pale blue and white, and then she began adding the symbols that represent her life and her passions.
After submitting a number of different designs, she worked with two Nike designers on the shoe's details. They include embossed patterns of tiny basketballs, Berger's initials and birth year and one special detail: a pattern on the soles that can be seen when the shoes are placed together.
The Nike designers did more than help with the shoe; they also gave Berger floor-seat tickets to a Blazer game against the Mavericks. As an aspiring basketball player, she was ecstatic.
Berger had to keep her design under wraps until her shoe and the five others were revealed during a special ceremony in late September at Wieden + Kennedy's Portland headquarters. Now she has two pairs of her special shoe; one that has been signed by Tiger Woods and is stored in a keepsake box made from an old gym floor and a pair she can wear. Unfortunately that pair was too big, but Nike has promised to provide her with a pair in her size.
Her shoes will sell for around $100, and she'll be attending a shoe-signing ceremony at the Eugene Nike Town store Nov. 14.
"I'm very happy. These are everything I wanted," she said. And she's thrilled that her work is now earning money for Doernbecher.
"It's for a really good cause," she said. "I feel good that I can give back to Doernbecher because they have been so good to me."
At a glance
Who: Brandi Berger, 14,
What: Corvallis High School freshman, aspiring basketball player, Nike shoe designer
Family: Mom Konnie, dad Craig, older sister Sam
Favorite things: Family, friends and the farm's six cows
Favorite basketball team: Phoenix Suns