Kentish Express Ashford & District
Mum’s raising awareness over diabetes dangers
A mother s ays s he is determined to raise awareness of Type 1 diabetes in children after her son was recently diagnosed.
Rae O’Sullivan, from Willesborough, hopes to help others understand the condition after her son Izaiah Debrah was hospitalised just days before his fifth birthday.
The mother-of-two is now working to raise funds for Diabetes UK in the hope of an easier future for her son. Ms O’Sullivan said: “Everyone doesn’t know how serious it is. No one in the family’s got it. My mission is to raise awareness.”
Izaiah’s diagnosis came as a shock because Type 1 diabetes is often inherited, which is not so in his case, but some researchers have suggested it may also be caused by viral infections. Symptoms of Type 1 diabetes usually develop very quickly in young people, which happened to Izaiah.
The Ashford Oaks schoolboy wet the bed two nights in a row – which Ms O’Sullivan says never happens – and became tired and drank continuously with frequent bathroom trips over a couple of days, prompting his mother to call NHS 111.
Ms O’Sullivan said: “Glucose was found in his urine by doctors. His blood levels were so high no number was coming up on the monitors.”
Izaiah was rushed to the Padua children’s ward at the William Harvey Hospital, where his blood sugar level was found to be very high.
Ms O’Sullivan said: “He now has to have insulin four times a day and his bloods checked every two hours. His pancreas just stopped working.
“You’re just living a whole new life now. It’s nothing we’ve done. This time last week he was allowed to eat anything. It’s so hard. It’s such a life-changing thing.” Izaiah and his family stayed on the Padua ward until his parents were comfortable giving him insulin. He is now on a strict diet and routine to maintain his blood at a safe level. School staff are also due to be trained to give him insulin.
Ms O’Sullivan wants to stress the importance of seeking medical advice: “Don’t brush it off. If I didn’t go with my gut and recognised these symptoms he could have gone into a coma.
“I really need people to understand how serious the symptoms are, even if they feel silly for getting it checked.
“They’re the symptoms that I saw first. Some parents may think ‘see how it goes’. The next thing you know your child is collapsed or in a coma.”
Between July and September, Ms O’Sullivan will take part in the Million Steps Challenge for Diabetes UK, the first of many planned challenges.
To sponsor Rae, visit www. justgiving.com/fundraising/ rae-osullivan