November 14th is World Diabetes Day, honoring the birthday of Sir Frederick Grant Banting. On November 14th, students from Resurrection Catholic School in Lakeland wore blue ribbons in honor of Laney, a 6th grader from the school with the disease. Laney was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was ten years old.

Diabetes is a disease that happens when your pancreas stops working correctly. Those with type 1 diabetes are born with it, and they are dependent on insulin. Those with type 2 diabetes acquire it during their life.

This year’s World Diabetes Day focuses on raising awareness of the impact diabetes has on the family. This day means a lot to her, because it reminds her of how she was before she was diagnosed with diabetes.  To celebrate this day with her family, she is going out to eat for dinner.  For Laney, the hardest part of having diabetes is having to constantly stop throughout her day to protect herself.  Having diabetes has taught Laney a lot of responsibility and how to take care of her body.

Thanks to Sir Frederick Grant Banting, who invented of insulin, a hormone that lowers blood sugar in the pancreas, Laney’s life is very different than it was for those in Sir Frederick’s day. Even though she has to constantly check her blood levels, insulin gives her the freedom to have an active life. Insulin was first used on January 11th, 1922.

Laney is grateful to Sir Frederick Grant Banting and wants all of us to know how to protect our body. She said she is so happy that her classmates from Resurrection supported her on World Diabetes Day!

This article was written by Julia, a sixth grade student at Resurrection Catholic School in Lakeland.
January 21, 2020