Turning type 1 into type none: Brave Geraldton kids fundraise to help find a cure for type 1 diabetes

When looking at five-year old Hugh Parsons, seven-year-old Lilli Kingdon and 11-year-old Mason Box, you would think they were just ordinary kids — full of joy and cheeky energy with not a care in the world. However, these kids manage a disease that is like a full-time job. Every day brings new challenges, more worries and little sleep. Type 1 diabetes is a lifelong, life-threatening, invisible autoimmune disease that more than 130,000 Australians currently battle, with eight new diagnoses made every day. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the cells in the pancreas, a small organ behind the stomach, which produces insulin. There is no known cause and there is no cure. As one of the most common chronic childhood conditions, type 1 diabetes is not linked to modifiable lifestyle factors and cannot be prevented. Too little or too much insulin could lead to deadly consequences. For Lilli, Mason and Hugh, and their mums Sarah, Aleisha and Tiffany, this is their normal. On Sunday, March 30, the families will be hosting the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation One Walk — the first of its kind in Geraldton — fundraising to find a cure for type 1 diabetes. Hugh was diagnosed at the age of three when mum Aleisha, who is a nurse, spotted the signs and symptoms of the disease. “We were in New Zealand for a family holiday at the time,” she said. “Hugh was excessively thirsty, going to the toilet very frequently, wetting the bed and his pants even though he was toilet-trained and was just so hungry. “He had lost 2kg but was eating so much. He was so hungry he ate six bananas in one sitting.” Lilli was diagnosed in May last year, suffering the same symptoms as Hugh, mum Sarah said. “Lilli lost 6kg in two weeks. She was wetting the bed and would not stop drinking water.” Both children spent several days in hospital, learning their new normal. “It was a massive adjustment for not only Hugh, but myself and my husband too,” Aleisha said. “I was so sleep-deprived, the hospital didn’t provide us parents with meals and at that point I just broke down. “I haven’t got a good night’s sleep since.” The JDRF One Walk is an opportunity for families and kids with type 1 diabetes to come together and raise important funds for research into a cure as well as spread general awareness about the signs and symptoms of the disease. When asked what a cure would mean to them, both Sarah and Aleisha were lost for words. “It would mean everything,” Sarah said. Through tears, Aleisha said it would mean an entirely different life. “It would completely change our lives, it would give Hugh a better life for sure,” she said. When asked what the worst thing was about type 1 diabetes, Lilli said being attached to “all these devices”. The JDRF One Walk Geraldton will be held in Stow Gardens at 8am. There will be face painting, a bouncy castle, a sausage sizzle and the 2km walk along the foreshore. You can visit Lilli Kingdon’s JDRF One Walk page for more information on the event and fundraising efforts at walk.jdrf.org.au/fundraisers/teamlillik.