'I was only 13-months-old when I was diagnosed with diabetes'

Lesley Kirton and her husband at their daughter's wedding

I was only 13-months-old when I was diagnosed with diabetes and to the best of my knowledge was the youngest surviving diabetic until I was 21-years-old.

My diagnosis took over eight hours to complete, whilst a team of doctors fought to save my life.

They carried out a lumber puncture to see if I had polio as it was so rare for such a young child to become diabetic in those days
 
My mum struggled every day to inject, feed and care for me without the knowledge and equipment that is now freely available, paying for all of my medicines and equipment and suffering very many sleepless nights when I would repeatedly go hypo in my sleep.

Memories of those times are of a very exhausted and scared little girl wondering why I had so many scary dreams. I still go hypo at night and in my whole life have never slept in a house entirely on my own – just in case.
 
I started school when I was six-years-old because they were afraid I would be too unwell to cope with ordinary school.

So I was bussed to a special school for a year but then was allowed to go to ordinary school. This was great, however within three months of starting there, a classmate was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes so all my friends refused to come anywhere near me because they said it was ‘catching’.

My earliest memories of being happy were when they told me I could go to ‘ordinary’ school and when they told me I could eat cereal instead of porridge every day as most things had no carbohydrate calculations in those early days.

I grew to believe I would die young and either never have children or go blind in the attempt.

So in my teens I went wild and drank, smoke, took drugs and partied big time.(although never once neglected to take my insulin or go to the hospital and doctors for my check-ups).

A very clear memory I have was attending the local family planning clinic to collect my pill and being told by the nurse I did not need it as I was certainly sterile, so stopped taking contraception.

Three years later - at 24-years-old - I discovered I was four months' pregnant with my first daughter (pictured, above right: Lesley Kirton and her family at her daughter's wedding).

I was terrified, but elated, and after a carefully monitored pregnancy gave birth naturally to my perfect and healthy first daughter followed four years later by my second daughter.

They have now grown up into healthy and happy adults giving us two cherished and healthy grandchildren.
 
I am now 52 having been on insulin for over 50 years and have four beautiful and healthy grandchildren and live a healthy and very happy life with no signs of retinopathy or any other complication.

I have travelled to Malaysia and Sri Lanka, owned and managed my own business and seen my dear parents reach 87-years-old feeling happy that I am still around to care for them.

Has diabetes affected my life?

Yes absolutely certainly.

Do I think it is better to be a diabetic now?

Yes absolutely certainly

Would I say that to live with diabetes was difficult?

No not really, it’s always been just part of normal living to me.

Would I have preferred to be a child now being first diagnosed instead of so long ago?

Oh yes, I could have led a far freer and happier life and been able to achieve far more than I have but on the whole I think I am extremely lucky.

If my children of my grandchildren became diabetic would I worry?

No, because it is simply learning to live with it and never forgetting it is there. Diabetics these days can do anything and go anywhere and be safe in the knowledge that massive breakthroughs are happening these days to make it certainly easier to live as a diabetic.