Every child deserves to feel like a hero.

My name is Gary Forbes. I'm a former NBA player, and I'm one of only three players in the history of the league to compete while living with Type 1 diabetes. I'm also the creator of Sole Survivors.

I was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 19, as a college student. Doctors, coaches, and even some people close to me told me my basketball career was over. I didn't accept that. I kept going. I played through six knee surgeries, a staph infection that nearly ended my life, two totaled car accidents, and a diabetic coma that came near the end of my professional career. Those moments didn't break me - they clarified my purpose.

My father, Roberto Forbes, was an Olympic lifter, a pro cyclist, and a welder on the Panama Canal. He gave me something I've carried my whole life: optimistic sticktoitiveness. The belief that your present situation is not your final destination. That mindset is the foundation of everything I do.

After basketball, I started writing and creating Sole Survivors - a comic series about kids living with chronic health conditions who become superheroes. Characters like Dash and Dolly (diabetes), Autumn, Ausome, and the rest of the team don't hide their conditions. They train, they struggle, they support each other, and they save their galaxy. The message is simple: your challenge can become your superpower.

Sole Survivors grew into more than comics. It became a movement. Through the Health Hero League, we run structured seasons where kids practice daily habits - movement, mindfulness, health management, and reading - inside a world of heroes, quests, and community. We partner with groups like Heroic Game Day to bring these experiences to life through real events, activation days, and championship moments we call the Greatest Day Ever. Kids don't just hear that they're heroes. They live it.

The Sponsor A Hero campaign exists to scale that experience. Every $150 sponsors one complete Hero Kit. Each kit includes Sole Survivors comics, character badges, an activity journal, and materials that connect kids to the Health Hero League and Heroic Game Day activations. These kits go to children in hospitals, schools, and communities- kids who often feel isolated by their diagnosis. A kit says: you're not alone, and you're stronger than you think.

Our goal is to sponsor 25,000+ Hero Kits and raise $500,000+ over the next 18 months.

By 2027, we aim to reach more than 500,000 children. This isn't charity in the traditional sense. It's representation, literacy, movement, and mindset delivered in a form kids actually want to engage with.

I know what it feels like to be told your dream is over because of a diagnosis. I also know what it feels like to prove that wrong. Every Hero Kit we place in a child's hands is a chance for them to start writing their own comeback story - with optimism, with practice, and with a community of other heroes beside them.

Your support makes that possible. Sponsor a hero today. Help a child see themselves the way I've always seen them: capable, resilient, and powerful.

Every $150 turns a challenge into a superpower. Join us.

Sponsor A Hero

Every $150 sponsors a complete Hero Kit that inspires literacy, confidence, and wellness. Every child deserves to feel like a HERO!

Team Members