Hi Everyone! My name is Lana, I am 25 and I am a new runner fundraising for Diabetes UK.

Over 5 million people live with Diabetes, including over 1 million with Type 1 diabetes. But for those of us with Type 1, it’s not just a statistic. It’s a lifelong condition that demands constant attention, every hour of every day and night. There’s no prevention, no breaks and currently, no cure.

For me, that reality began in the summer of 2006. I was six years old, on a family holiday in Menorca, when I began feeling seriously unwell — constantly thirsty, needing the toilet every few minutes, and losing weight rapidly. I remember trying to race my mum up a flight of stairs and collapsing in tears from sheer exhaustion. My body was in crisis, even if I didn’t know it at the time.

By complete chance, we met a family abroad who had experience with Diabetes and recognised the signs. They encouraged my parents to get me checked as soon as we were back home. Looking back, this advice likely saved my life.

After we returned from holiday, things took a turn for the worse. My condition deteriorated rapidly — my body was shutting down, and I was growing weaker by the day. My parents arranged for me to have some urgent tests and as soon as the results came in, we received an immediate call back. Not long after, I was carried into hospital, put on a drip, and on August 29th 2006, I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

I still remember sitting in the children’s ward with my mum, dad, and brothers, scared and confused. I didn’t understand what Diabetes was or why it was happening to me.

Over the next few days, doctors worked to stabilise my blood sugar levels. I was closely monitored and kept on a drip to help rehydrate me and bring my levels back to a safe range. Once things had settled enough, the drip was removed and that’s when I had to start injecting insulin. At just six years old, the idea of injecting myself every day was terrifying. My dad gave me my first injection in hospital while my brother tried cracking a joke to distract me. I lay in bed with tears in my eyes, still too young to understand what this would mean for the rest of my life.

That moment - filled with fear, love, confusion, and courage - marked the start of a completely different life. I went from hiding under the doctor’s table to avoid booster jabs, to learning how to inject myself multiple times a day. Finger pricks, blood sugar checks, insulin doses, and regular hospital visits quickly became my new normal, all while still just trying to be a child.

Thankfully, I wasn’t alone. My friends and family have been my rock. They gave me injections when I was too small or scared and have learned about the condition alongside me. They called ambulances after seizures caused by low blood sugar and have rushed to grab me sugary drinks in emergencies. They sat with me during hospital visits and drove me when I couldn’t, whether due to temporary vision impairments after retinopathy appointments or low blood sugar making it unsafe. Diabetes is often invisible from the outside, but these acts of support have meant everything.

Even now, I’m still learning new things about the condition: about my body, how it responds to stress, movement, food, hormones, and life itself. It’s unpredictable and relentless. But through it all, Diabetes UK has helped to make the invisible feel seen.

Their support, education, and funding have led to life-changing innovations. I’ve gone from syringes to Libre sensors, and as of recent now use a closed-loop system which is a piece of tech that automatically adjusts my insulin levels. No more daily injections. No more finger pricks. Just freedom I could never have imagined back in 2006.

Yet, even with the incredible progress, like the closed-loop system that’s transformed how I manage my Diabetes, there’s still no such thing as a day off. Every new piece of tech comes with new adjustments, learning curves, system errors and constant monitoring. It helps, but it doesn’t remove the everyday mental and physical load. So, that’s why I’m running the London Marathon in 2026 — to raise money for Diabetes UK to help find a cure:

- I’m running for the six-year-old me, scared and unsure of what lay ahead.

- I’m running for every child, teen, and adult who wakes up every day and manages a condition that never gives them a break.

- Finally, I’m running to prove that Diabetes doesn’t define me and it doesn’t have to define anyone else managing this condition.

So please, if you can, support me. Donate what you can (no matter how small) and help fund further research, support, and hope💙