Being diagnosed with any illness is a struggle; awareness, health changes, etc., but it’s even more difficult when you have to create these changes when you are only a child. Usher understands these difficulties as his seven-year-old son, Usher Raymond V, also known as Cinco, was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. During a chat with PEOPLE at the JDRF‘s Promise Ball, which raises awareness and money for research and a cure, Usher opens up about his son’s type 1 diabetes diagnosis one year ago. “A child that every day has to prick himself and has to be cautious of what he eats and also to carry this disorder around — that really is the type of bravery that we all aspire to have,” says the R&B crooner. Hit the jump for more.