Jamie: This device would have made such a difference to my dad’s life

I would like to start off by saying I am one of the lucky ones, I am not personally affected by it, however my late father, stepfather and stepsister (most beautiful girl in the world) have been. Consequently of course it has affected our family and our lives.

Firstly, my dad, he was the most divine soul I have ever encountered, he got diagnosed with type 1 when he was about 1 year old unfortunately, glucose monitors of this kind did not exist when he was alive, and while he tried his best to monitor his disease, it seriously affected his everyday spirit. We lost dad when I was about 6, (2008). He went into a coma, and we had to take him off life support. He left behind my little brother (4 at the time) and my beautiful mum who he loved so much and vice versa.

Fast forward 7 years where my mum finds a partner, his daughter (my stepsister) has had type 1 since a few weeks old. I remember vividly as a child, her screaming every Sunday for “site change” and constantly missing out on the simple things like a treat after dinner, or going to school and having to take her levels in the middle of class.

Fast forward another few years to when my stepdad gets diagnosed with the same disease. While he is amazing at managing it all, it’s hard to see his blood sugar drop or heighten. He gets irritable and angry, and his moods change like the wind which is hard to watch in the sense that we hate seeing his mental health suffer and also despise dealing with these changes.

Both my stepdad and sister have the new monitors which have changed their lives drastically, while it doesn’t take away the severity and struggle of the disease, we can seriously see that it makes their quality of life so much better than it ever was without one.

My stepsister has a friend in school that is diabetic that cannot afford the same luxury. She was unlucky enough to get an uncontrollable and incurable disease but can simply not afford to have the same luxury as my family. It’s simply not right. It’s not fair and these people deserve to be protected and cared for just as much as the rest. I don’t like to think about “what ifs”, but I truly believe that this device would have made a difference to my dad’s life as well.