Grace To Needle Mps For Funding
Newcastle Herald
Wednesday October 25, 2006
EIGHT-year-old Grace Gibson will take on the big guns in Canberra next week in the hope of gaining more funds for diabetes research.
Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes three years ago, Grace will tell Health Minister Tony Abbott and Prime Minister John Howard what it is like to live with the disease.She is one of 100 young diabetes sufferers who will converge on Parliament House on November 1 for Kids in the House organised by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.Grace has gone from giving herself three injections a day to being connected to a special pump which administers her insulin."I only have to have one big needle every three days," she said."I will be telling politicians what it is like to have diabetes and why I want a cure."It's pretty horrible and the worst part is the needle."I want a cure because it would make life a lot easier," she said.Grace and other members of the group will thank the Government for the $30 million research funding invested in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation islet transplant program.But she will also urge politicians to remember them when considering new policies and funding decisions for medical research.When speaking recently to Newcastle MP Sharon Grierson, Grace said she would rather a cure for diabetes than a million dollars.She is one of more than 140,000 Australians affected by type 1 (juvenile) diabetes.Type 1 is the most serious form of the disease as a sufferer's pancreas stops producing insulin the hormone that helps the body turn food into energy.To survive, Grace must be hooked up to her insulin pump and also test her blood sugar levels five or more times a day by pricking her finger.Unlike type 2 diabetes, Grace's condition was not caused by diet and lifestyle factors and cannot be treated with healthy eating and exercise.
© 2006 Newcastle Herald