Hello, 

My name is Gino Parletti, I'm 25 and I live in Eastbourne in East Sussex.

I want to raise some money for Diabetes UK, in memory of my late mother, Renata Parletti, who sadly passed away just over a year ago on the 24th August 2018.

My mum struggled with diabetes for almost my entire life, being diagnosed with Type 1, the less common and less well known form, roughly 6 months after I was born. 

Type 1 is believed to be an autoimmune condition, meaning your own body's defence systems recognise a part of the body as if it's not supposed to be there, in this case it was the pancreas. 

Over the years this chronic condition ate away at mum's energy levels, general health and her social life.. constantly watching what she ate and trying to counter it with regular insulin injections.  A day in the life of a type 1 sufferer.

In recent years this condition started causing problems with her eyesight, her kidney function, her skin sensation, caused anaemia and finally, her heart. It was the latter that was the last straw to how much mum's body could handle. 

This past year has been the hardest of my life, and anyone that knows me knows how absolutely rubbish I am at talking about this stuff (what bloke doesn't?) So I thought I'd put my body to the test by running this marathon on the beautiful south downs, one of mum's favourite places, to try and get my mind and body to understand the stresses she went through on a daily basis. 

Mum struggled with this for 24 years, I hope that with more research that Type 1 Diabetes can one day be cured, any donation, small or large would be so gratefully appreciated.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story, training is almost over.. counting down the days!