My Story

On 6th January 2020 my daughter Caitlin was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. It was and is life changing. We all had the same symptoms which we now know as Covid, which was responsible for attacking her immune system and leaving her very ill. She progressively got worse and we ended up in Birmingham Children's Hospital being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.

It was an awful shock and so sad, and Caitlin looked so ill.

I spent nearly a week in hospital with the most amazing team of nurses and diabetic team, that scooped us up and slowly and patiently taught us about diabetes and gave us the confidence that we could live with it. 

There we met Rufus the Breakthrough T1D teddy bear that made such a difference and they still support us as a family today.

Diabetes is relentless, 24/7. The reality of living with it can be overwhelming

Let that sink in for a minute;

• Every meal
• Every day
• Every holiday
• Multiple pump and CGM changes or insulin injections
• A constant weighing and calculating of carbs in food
• You can never switch off
• Alarms go off in the day & night
• And there is always school & work the next day
• Then the hormones kick in

Today Caitlin is a:

• National Triathlete for the Midlands Region
• A County Athletic and Cross-Country runner-Bromsgrove & Redditch Athletics club
• A County swimmer-Worcester Swimming Club
• A Cyclist-Wyre Forest Cycle Club
• Breakthrough T1D Ambassador 

Resilience comes from determination to make life better to succeed and believe that you can do anything you put your mind to even with Type 1.

Molly, Caitlin’s beautiful black Labrador is her assistance dog, her best friend who never asks any questions, and is always there for her.

Hope and positivity is everything.

I hope in my lifetime to see a cure that will benefit, not only my daughter but all the type 1 diabetics in this world. It is so important to raise money to continue the research into diabetes and into stem cells.

The London Marathon is a perfect platform.

We would be so grateful for any donation.

Thank you

Please click on the video below.

Anne-Louise & Caitlin