Teenage girl spreads type 1 message

A teenage girl has appealed to the diabetes community to “live life to the fullest” despite having the chronic condition.

Millie Hainge, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was 9, shared her story at the recent JDRF event at the National Space Centre in Leicestershire.

She told attendees that despite her diagnosis, she continues to enjoy life and makes the most out of every opportunity.

She said: “Yes type 1 diabetes is a life threatening condition with no cure and yes, those of us living with the disease have to inject insulin for every carbohydrate we put in our mouths, but that must not stop us from living our lives how we wish to live.

I want people to learn to use their voice to demand change for themselves

“I hear horror stories all the time from other type 1 young people who have been told that they can’t join the cross country running team at school or that they can’t go on sleep overs.

“I even know one family where the school refused to take the child away on an overnight school trip unless the mum went too.

“It makes me really cross, sure living with type 1 means we need to be more organised and prepared, we need to carry equipment, insulin pens, needles, juice boxes for if we have a low but we can and should be able to join in everything that someone without type 1 does if we want to.”

She used her time on stage to appeal to other people with the condition to educate others about what having type 1 diabetes actually means.

She said: “I want people to learn to use their voice to demand change for themselves and then once they have seen its power, I want all of those voices to come together to demand change for the whole of the type 1 community.”

In the past Millie has lobbied both the UK Parliament and Downing Street to demand a fairer future for people with the condition.

Last year she travelled to Washington to speak with US Senators and Congress about the issue at the JDRF Children’s Congress.