I had little or no experience of diabetes until my son was diagnosed with type 1 at 13.  The diagnosis was really late coming as it appears our general practice had about as much experience of type 1 diabetes as us! Sam nearly died with severe DKA - we were so lucky, our practice put off seeing him for another week, but luckily we insisted that someone see him immediately!  Many are less fortunate.

That was 21 years ago - he contacted me this morning and told me his HbA1c was 61 - the best birthday present I could have wished for, he’s been amazing as T1 is far from easy to live with.

I was lucky enough to get a job at Diabetes UK, and spent 13 years as National Director of Diabetes UK Cymru.  During that time I spent a lot of time working with people who lived with diabetes - the diabetes community is truly remarkable. 

People who live with diabetes are in many ways living in a shadow, as the challenges they face every day are seldom understood by those not affected by the condition.

I decided to take part in Swim 22 last year so that I could make a small contribution to the diabetes community and the work that Diabetes UK do - it’s not a great deal but at least repays a small part of what they’ve done for me, I owe them far more!