By DANIELLE GALVIN
A POWERFUL poster with the symptoms of Type 1 diabetes is popping up across Casey and Cardinia.
Berwick mum Deb Bayley is one of the parents behind the poster with the group and has a 12-year-old son with the disease.
She has the help of her friend Suzie Silva, whose son Tristan has Type 1 diabetes.
“It’s taken Suzie Silva and I a lot of time and effort with phone calls, emails, meetings and ideas from the heart,” she said.
“We have a group name for our campaign – we are called The Courageous 1’s.
“The posters are produced and supplied by us – we launched the campaign on the 16 August and we are distributing the posters ourselves throughout the community and hopefully far and beyond.”
The parents involved in the group have dealt with some confusion in the community about Type 1 diabetes.
“So many people still believe that Type 1 diabetic kids will grow out of this disease or just think that the kids got it because of their diet – this is not true,” Deb said.
“It is not preventable and there is no cure, yet.
“Our aim is to have these posters displayed in as many GP clinics, pharmacies and schools as possible.”
They have found more and more doctors, parents, carers and teachers are unaware of the symptoms just as Deb and Suzie were when their children were diagnosed.
“Like my son who was only aged two a half at the time – I was not aware of any of the symptoms and it was by chance that I noticed a strange odour coming from his breath which had me taking him to a GP,” Deb said.
“It turned out to be what you call acetone breath when you have an extremely high blood sugar.
“With excessive wetting of his nappy and constant thirst it all made sense once he was diagnosed but so many people don’t put two and two together.”
On Sunday 20 October, The Courageous 1’s will walk the Walk to Cure Diabetes at 10.30am around Albert Park Lake. It is one of the events they do each year to raise awareness for the cause.
To donate to the team, visit http://walk.jdrf.org.au/teamParticipant.asp?teamID=315 .
