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‘We were shocked to find Oscar had diabetes at just 3 – but the kindness of others has helped us through’

A Scunthorpe mum who was shocked to find her young son had type 1 diabetes has praised a support group that helped her come to terms with the sudden diagnosis.

Little Oscar was diagnosed at just three years old after his parents became concerned because he was wetting the bed. Mum Lauren said she had no idea that a child so young could be suffering from the serious condition.

“We first noticed that he’d started drinking more, then he was going to the toilet more, but we just thought they went hand in hand,” Lauren said. “It wasn’t until he started wetting the bed that we thought something might be wrong.”

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“We took him to get checked out and they diagnosed him with Type 1 diabetes after a urine test.” She added: “We never thought someone as young as Oscar could have diabetes, I think a lot of people see it as an illness that only affects older people.”

Type 1 and type 2 diabetes are different conditions. In type 1, the body does not make insulin at all, whereas in type 2, the body still makes insulin, but cannot produce enough, or the insulin becomes ineffective.



Friend Tom Graves will be doing a sponsored skydive for the North Lincs Children's Diabetes Support Group
Friend Tom Graves will be doing a sponsored skydive for the North Lincs Children’s Diabetes Support Group

Lauren added: “It was quite the shock when they first told us, but we were also relieved to know that there was nothing we could have done to prevent it, it was going to happen regardless of what we did.”

After struggling to come to terms with Oscar’s diagnosis, Lauren began taking him to North Lincs Children’s Diabetes Support Group, where they met other parents and children going through the same thing. “We got such a warm welcome and Oscar made some great friends,” she said. “Being surrounded by likeminded people just made it a bit more normal for him.”

Despite his condition, Oscar lives life to the full. “He told us he wouldn’t let it stop him and he’s done exactly that, even though all this is happening he keeps going,” Lauren said. “Behind the scenes, we make sure he gets his medicine, but he never stops.”

Now, a friend, Tom Graves, has put his name forward to do a charity sky dive to raise money for the group, so that it can continue to help people like Lauren and Oscar.

Lauren said: “When he told me he was doing it, I was shocked, I never thought someone would do something as kind as this for us and everyone else in the group.”

Tom’s skydive will take place on Friday, October 29, at Hibaldstow. A Go Fund Me page is open for donations.

Original artice: https://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/all-about/scunthorpe

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