As many of you know I have lived with type 1 diabetes for the past 19 years. Coming from a family with no history of type 1 diabetes this was a huge shock and difficult to come to terms with. I mean everything contains sugar- my mum wouldn't let me have tomato ketchup on things because it contained sugar!!! Having had his condition since the age of 11 my aim was to never let this hold me back from achieving anything. So much so that I have spent lots of my holidays travelling (meaning airport security checks lasting a few more minutes than normal!), entering many charity events (London marathon 2011, charity cycle ride palace to palace), having an active job and also competing for my local hockey team. 

As a child I never realised how much hard work my parents put in to make sure that my diabetes did not affect my childhood from staying at friends houses, eating out and taking part in different activities. As a form teacher of a child with diabetes and watching the hard work of their parents it has made me realise the hard work my parents put in and I am extremely thankful for their care. One of my dreams as a child was to become a police officer and at the age of 20 I applied to the police, having passed all my security checks I failed my medical due to my diabetes and was unable to continue with my application. Finally the rules have changed and with evidence of good blood glucose results you are now allowed to join the police (thanks to diabetes UK).

I am extremely grateful for the work diabetes UK has done not only for me but for the thousands and thousands of people living in the UK with type 1 or 2 diabetes. The technology around diabetes has improved massively from my first few years having syringes and vials and having to draw up my insulin, moving to pens, then a DAFNE course to understand carbohydrate to insulin ratio, to insulin pumps that had cannulas and tubes and now to the tiny device/ pump I wear on my arm. The insulin pump acts as a pancreas on the outside of my body and has helped me to improve my HBA1C blood glucose results and enable me to identify hypoglycaemia's more easily.

So partly to give something back to thank the amazing work of diabetes UK, Bedford hospital, my parents and also to prove and show everyone that diabetes does not stop you from achieving your goals. I decided to set myself a goal and run the London marathon again.

Obviously donations are pretty crucial to this being a success so any and all support would be absolutely amazing.

Diabetes UK aims to:
1. Reduce the rate of increase of diabetes
2. Ensure people get the earliest possible diagnosis
3. Halve the rate of complications
4. Reduce premature deaths of diabetes


Thank you

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