TAUNTON, Mass. -- Noah Brokmeier was diagnosed with diabetes two-and-a-half years ago.
"The day that I was diagnosed, I could barely get out of my bed that day," the 9-year-old said.
He now wears a wireless insulin pump and answers to the name -- "The Diabetes Dude".
It's what he has and not who he is.
"We needed to let everybody know that Noah's got diabetes. Diabetes doesn't have him," said Noah's father, Tim Brokmeier.
That's how Noah's flocking campaign started.
He secretly places a blue flamingo in someone's front yard. A blue one he says because blue is the color of diabetes awareness.
"Yeah, we do it when the person's, like, not knowing and then we put it on their lawn," Noah said.
Neighbor Sandy Farrell was the first person he flocked.
The flamingo that he put on her lawn was named Duncan. Each flamingo has a name that begins with D, for diabetes. Each flamingo is delivered with a bag with a letter inside explaining Noah's mission.
"His idea is to get everybody out there to know something about diabetes. One of the best things he ever said to me was, 'Dad, every diabetic is my friend.' That's the Diabetes Dude right there," Tim Brokmeier said.
When you're flocked, you're asked to keep the blue flamingo in your front yard for at least a day and take a picture with the flamingo so it can be posted on Noah's Web site.
Then it's time for the flamingo to take flight.
"Normally, we'll go out and go get them," Tim Brokmeier said.
Or you can opt to pass along the flamingo. There's one as far away as California.
Noah said he's tracking them on his Web site. He said he'd like at least one blue flamingo in every state.
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