I will running the Manchester half Marathon in October in support of JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation). This is a charity close to my family.

My younger sister was diagnosed with diabetes at 14, this came as complete shock as we didn’t know the symptoms properly or where to begin with managing it. This has changed my sisters life as she takes insulin Everyday multiple times a day, this doesn’t faze her as she gets on and doesn’t let diabetes stop her! Not sure I'd be the same!!

Type one diabetes is an incurable autoimmune disease. This is where your body cannot produce enough insulin, which regulates blood glucose. It can be regulated by injecting insulin at meal times and when blood sugar is too high. The exact causes of diabetes are unknown and there is no cure. I want to spread awareness of the symptoms of T1D and raise money to help find a cure. Currently there are 3 methods of curing diabetes:

• Stopping the immune attack - trials have shown to delay the onset of the condition by a few months

• Beta cell replacement - transplant of the beta cells and a transplant of the pancreas

• Beta cell protection - protecting transplanted beta cells

It would a lot to me if you could donate anything or just read up about type 1 diabetes as I feel it can easily be mistaken and often confused with type 2 which is preventable! I really appreciate the time taken to read this!

A link to symptoms and further information can be found here:

https://www.diabetes.org.uk/diabetes-the-basics/types-of-diabetes/type-1/symptoms

Thank you

El x