Joe Cardozo
Is a publicist, graphic designer and cartoonist who also successfully accomplish a complete Diabetes educator course.
Currently he runs his own Diabetes Website in English and Spanish. In 2003 he received the prestigious Hagedorn medal at the 18th World Diabetes Congress held in Paris, for his extraordinary work as president of the task force of communication for the South America and Central America region of the International Diabetes Federation (SACA-IDF) and his dedication in the fight against Diabetes and its complications worldwide.
At the age of 11 he started working as a freelance cartoonist at the educational TV channel in Venezuela. At the age of 16 he was diagnosed with type 1 Diabetes. and at the age of 18 he created Hola Designs, a company dedicated to create, make and sale greeting cards, calendars, t-shirts and all kind of printed products with his cartoons, that were very successful in Venezuela.
In 1985 he created Ralo Designs in the US, and a line of cartoon characters named Waldo’s Jungle. In 1986 he created a line of Valentine’s greeting cards named Heartbeats that were sold by .Sunmark, a greeting card company in the NY. In 1988, he was diagnose with Diabetic Retinopathy. In 1990 he created the Custom Card Company, a company that create and sale customize greeting cards for big companies in Miami such as Gator Leasing, Blockbuster Videos and Southern Bell, among others.
In 1994 he developed Diabetic Nephropathy so he had to start dialysis treatment and only a transplant could free him from being connected to a dialysis machine for life, 3 days a week for 4 hours each. On November 2nd 1998, he received a successful kidney and pancreas transplant. That day he made a commitment to God to dedicate his life to fight against Diabetes and its complications. In 1999 he created Diabetes al Dia, a printed magazine that in 2000 became DiabetesalDia.com and in 2005 DiabetesuptoDate.com to offer a complete source of proper education and updated information about Diabetes and its risk factors, so people with this condition can enjoy a happy and healthier life.
If you want to read the story of Joe Cardozo written by his daughter Samantha, click the link below.
diabetesuptodate.com
