My name is Holly and I am seven years old. I am Type 1 Diabetic and November 14th was World Diabetic Awareness Day. Nobody knows the causes for Type 1 Diabetes yet but it is NOT from eating too much sugar. It is an auto-immune disease. When I was four years old, my pancreas stopped producing insulin. Without insulin, the glucose from the food I eat stays in my blood, making me feel very unwell. People with Type 1 Diabetes have to inject insulin into their bodies every day to stay alive. I used to get six injections a day but now I have a pump attached to my body which gives me my insulin. I have to prick my finger lots of times every day to check my blood. If the glucose level is too low, I can go unconscious. If it is too high, it’s also very dangerous.
Type 1 Diabetes is not contagious; nor do you develop it from eating too much sugar. There is no cure for Type 1 Diabetes but people with it can grow up to be anything that they want to be in life. Maybe I’ll grow up and find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes.
I am so lucky, my family, my friends, my teacher Ms. Frayne, my SNA Niamh and everyone here in St. Fiacc’s look after me so well.
Thank you for reading my story,
Holly
