I’m raising money by doing this ride for a wonderful charity to help towards the continued support and research development for type 1 diabetes.

5 months ago my 7 year old nephew Louie was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. He’s the first in our family to have this autoimmune condition. 

Luckily for him my sister caught it early as she knew the signs and got him seen before he went into DKA.

It’s been a tough time for him, going from a normal care free child with so much spark and happiness to now having to overcome his fear of needles and be more aware of what he eats and how his body feels. He has done amazing so far and is slowly becoming that carefree boy again.

The early days are the hardest. Louie was very active and enjoyed running and playing with his younger brothers, but he was always having to stop mid play to rectify his crashing blood sugars. It’s a challenge to keep his levels stable but with the help from his nursing team we are forever making changes to his insulin doses. He can play for longer without crashing low and we can see his smile again.

Type 1 diabetes is truly a life changing condition not just for him but for the whole family as well. Spontaneous days out now have to be more thought out, making sure we have all Louie’s hypo treatments, insulin and everything he could possibly need while out.

The technology available for type 1 is forever changing and helping make living with this condition easier and easier for everyone diagnosed. Louie will be starting his insulin pump journey soon, meaning he will have better control over his levels and more freedom with when and what he wants to eat. Exercise and play will be easier with less lows and nights will be better with less highs. He will have less injections and life will be more normal for him.