LIVE life to the fullest – that is the message for Type 1 diabetes sufferers to be delivered by a 13-year-old Princethorpe College student at a regional event on Saturday (March 12).
Millie Hainge will take to the stage at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund (JDRF)-sponsored Discovery Day being held at the National Space Centre in Leicestershire.
Millie, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was just 9, will share her story with 183 other Type 1 diabetics and their families from across the Midlands region.
Millie said: “Yes, Type 1 diabetes is a life threatening condition with no cure – and yes those of us living with disease have to inject insulin for every carbohydrate we put in our mouths. But that must not stop us from living our lives how we wish to live.
She said she gets very cross when she hears horror stories from other Type 1 youngsters who have been told that they can’t join the cross country running team at school, or that they can’t go on sleep-overs.
“I even know one family where the school refused to take the child away on an overnight school trip unless the mum went too,” she said.
“We need to be more organised and prepared, but we can and should be able to join in everything that someone without Type 1 does if we want to.
“I want to tell the delegates coming to the Discovery Day that they have a choice. The Discovery Day will show them that they aren’t alone and that we all have a voice.
“I want people to learn to use their voice to demand change for themselves and then once they have seen its power, I want all of those voices to come together to demand change for the whole of the Type 1 community.”
Ardent Type 1 campaigner Millie has lobbied both the UK Parliament and the US Senate and Congress in Washington DC to demand a fairer future for people with Type 1 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas stops producing insulin altogether. It affects adults and children and those diagnosed are then dependent on injecting or pumping insulin for the rest of their lives. At present it is unclear why Type 1 occurs and as yet there is no cure.
