By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
FOR 13 years, devoted Berwick mother Deb Bayley has campaigned for a cure for type one diabetes.
Ms Bayley embarked on her fundraising efforts soon after her son Ryan was diagnosed with the illness as a two-year-old.
In her latest project, she persuaded five Coles supermarkets in Casey to join the cause by offering $2 Cards for a Cure for sale.
Ms Bayley has also lauded a Coalition federal election pledge for $54 million towards subsidising continuous glucose monitoring technology for people under 21 with type one diabetes.
She said she’d like the pledge extended to all type one patients.
“It’s a shame because there are many adults who have type one diabetes,” she said.
“It’s a life issue until we find a cure.”
The technology helps avert catastrophes such as when children’s blood-sugar drops in their sleep.
Such cases can lead to the child collapsing in a coma, sometimes fatally.
The non-intrusive technology would replace the stress of finger-prick testing multiple times a day – including waking children in the middle of the night – to monitor low blood-sugar levels.
It’s a situation that is potentially dangerous and stressful to manage said Ryan who doesn’t currently use the technology but has an insulin pump.
“It’s something I’m thinking about all the time.
“The technology will be really helpful in the way we can manage our condition.”
The program would help an estimated 4000 patients and save their families about $4000 on average, according to the Coalition.
La Trobe MP Jason Wood said the “fantastic commitment” would make a big difference to affected families.
He said more such medical breakthroughs would be made due to the government’s medical research trust fund.
Ms Bayley said awareness had come a long way in the past 13 years but there was still common confusion between type one and type two diabetes.
Type one isn’t caused by diet but is, in fact, an auto-immune disease that attacks a person’s ability to produce insulin.
Ms Bayley said she fights on to make things easier for Ryan and the eight children in Australia who are diagnosed with the disease each day.
There are more than 122,000 type one patients in Australia.
She also acts as a peer support mentor for other families that are battling through the early days of diagnosis.
For Ryan, it’s a ray of hope.
“I feel we’re really close to a cure,” he said.
The Cards for a Cure are on sale at Coles supermarkets in Eden Rise, Berwick Southside, Casey Central, Fountain Gate and Springhill until 5 June.
The funds raised will go to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation for research and awareness.
