At the start of April 1999 one of my twin daughters then aged 4 years and 11 months was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes after being ill on and off from the start of the year and our family life was turned upside down.

While my wife had some knowledge of Diabetes I was completely ignorant about the condition and the realisation that this was not a curable disease but a lifelong condition and all the implications which came with it was very difficult to come to terms with over the days and weeks which followed.

The medical support was there and the medical professionals tried to provide some sort of pastoral support but of course they were busy with their professional responsibilities. During those initial weeks having somewhere to turn to get help and support would have been invaluable.

In the weeks that followed my wife searched online and found that there were organisations which offered just this support but not UK based so after some contact with one of the US based groups them she got them to create a UK section which she has played a prominent role in running ever since. Using the resources there will not make diabetes go away, but contact with families all over the country who have gone through having a child diagnosed with diabetes and learned how to live with it will be of enormous help.

The site is Children With Diabetes UK.

And my diabetic daughter. She still has diabetes of course, but she is now a beautiful healthy 17 year old planning to go to university next year and looking forward to the rest of her life.

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