On Wednesday 14th February 2001 I was diagnosed with Type 1
Diabetes Mellitus. 

I had lost 2 stone in 6 weeks and was constantly tired and thirsty, the 3 main symptoms of Type 1. I had blood tests that morning and after school had a phone call telling me to go to A&E as soon as possible and the on-call Registrar was waiting.  When I  got there the nurse was adamant I needed a wheelchair to get me to the ward and was shocked when I refused telling me that my glucose levels were so high I should have been in a coma!  Me being me, I pointed out the obvious that I wasn't and I could easily walk to the ward as I'd been at school all day and walked home. 

I was admitted to hospital for 2 days and was discharged on the
Friday lunchtime, in time to go and watch the England A vs Italy A match at Bedford rugby club that evening. 

I was started on multiple daily injections and two different types of insulin plus multiple finger prick glucose tests a day. At one point I
was on three different types of insulin a day. I now use one type of fast
acting insulin via an insulin pump and I have a glucose sensor which sends reading to an app on my phone which means fewer finger pick tests. 

I refuse to let T1DM stop me from doing anything. Since being
diagnosed I have failed my A levels (3 months after being diagnosed) but graduated from Uni with a BSc, completed multiple Race For Life races, completed the Liverpool to Maloy (Norway) leg of the 2008 Tall Ships Race, had surgery to break and straighten my right leg and learn to walk ‘normally’ again and completed a trek along the Jurassic Coast in 2015.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease whereby the pancreas
stops producing insulin. No one knows why yet and there's currently no cure just treatments and technology to help keep it under control. 

JDRF fund research purely into finding ways of treating and
ultimately curing Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus and preventing it.

By sponsoring me to take part in this challenging you will be
helping JDRF with their vital research, which hopefully one day, will mean no more finger prick blood tests, no more canular/pod changes and no more sensor changes.

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