My first exposure to Diabetes began during the 2nd World War when I was led to understand it was a fatal disease and that people who had “IT” didn’t live very long.

I met Helen when we were just young teenagers. Helen was 12 and I was 13. We met during the summer school break when she went north to visit her aunt and uncle. After she went home at the end of the summer, we stayed in touch.

When the war broke out, I enlisted in the air force and while serving my letters with Helen became longer and more frequent. In one of her letters Helen told me about her (Type 1) Diabetes and I thought our relationship would come to an end.

I wanted to marry my best friend when the war ended but I was told she was a risk, a big risk and perhaps I should end our relationship before we got too involved. I asked my mother. She always had given me courage and confidence when my world was in turmoil. “Kenny, if you truly love her, you can be happy. Love will overcome the days of doubt”. How right!

After the war, I moved to Toronto, a few blocks away from Helen, and after a one year engagement we were married in 1947.

At the same time the treatment for Diabetes was changing due to the discovery of insulin.

“Toronto” insulin was manufactured in downtown Toronto. Huge piles of cattle pancreas were kept in cold storage waiting for the insulin to be extracted from them. When a person became allergic to beef insulin, there was pork insulin to take for a little while until your body accepted the beef again.

In the beginning glass syringes were used. When needles were used for any length of time, they got dull. I became very good at sharpening them. Each day, the needles and syringes were boiled for ten minutes to sterilize them.

A group of medical people had a meeting about the need for an association of volunteers to be formed and soon the Diabetic Association of Ontario received its Charter. Helen with her secretarial training volunteered to be the secretary. I did my bit by setting up chairs and driving here and there on errands.

When it became necessary to have a full-time secretary for the Ontario Division, Helen became the first paid person after so many years of volunteering.

With the creation of the Canadian Diabetic Association we became a truly full Canadian association, opening branches from coast-to-coast.

Due to the complications of Diabetes, having a family required consultation with a doctor. In 1949 it was determined that we could have a baby and our our first daughter was born by caesarian section on February 24, 1950. Four years later, again after consultation with the diabetes specialist and her family doctor we were allowed to have our second child who was also born by c-section.

In 1974 a camp for children with diabetes was purchased and Helen took on the task of being the registrar for Camp Huronda working out of the basement office of our home in Toronto.

I quit my job with Metro Toronto and headed to Camp Huronda near Huntsville to become the Camp Manager. It was a most rewarding experience. Children who came very insecure about their future went home knowing more about themselves and how to manage their Diabetes.

The camp children became like our own and to this day I still get Christmas cards from some of those wonderful “Camp Staff and Campers”.

When Helen’s eyesight deteriorated to the extent that it was difficult for her to carry on as Registrar for Camp Huronda we left the camp in 1980 to begin a life of retirement.

I became more involved as a volunteer and served on the Board of Ontario Division and as Regional Director for the Muskoka area where I visited all the Branches of the Region. Helen often traveled with me and was able to promote the values of sending a child with diabetes to camp.

In 1984 I was diagnosed with type two diabetes. Since that time I have had to pay more attention to my health.

Helen had diabetes for fifty-five years and received many awards including a life membership in CDA on June 26th, 1993, the Fifty-year Medal of Joslin Diabetes Center and a commissioned print of a painting done for Novo Nordisc of the home of Sir Fredrick Banting.

In 1993 we were both honored with life memberships in Saskatoon for our years of contributions to the Canadian Diabetes Association. I was honored with the “Eric Roberts Award” for recognition of volunteering for many years.

I know that our contribution has made a difference to those we touched with dedication to help improve “Living with Diabetes”.

Today, although limited in my ability to be part of the action physically, there is still that spirit of belonging and verbally suggesting the best way to stay healthy while living with diabetes.

“Diabetes is Manageable!”

I do not consider myself a champion. However, I am amongst them every day. As a certified diabetes educator, I work with other health professionals who are so dedicated to helping those with diabetes manage their lives. As a volunteer for both Diabetes Educator Section and CDA, I am humbled to be amongst people who so willing offer their time to such a worthy cause. As an individual, I have learned so much from people with diabetes who are conquering their challenges. You are all champions!

“I am a Diabetes Champion because I believe that I can make a difference in the lives of the more than 2.4 million Canadians living each day with this disease (and I am one of them).

Since being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes more than 6 years ago, I have experienced first-hand the impacts on my life and the lives of my family members. Watching, and listening to my adult children has opened my eyes to what happens in the lives of the people who are nothing more than supports of my health.

Whether it be though my involvement in advocacy, speaking to various audiences about diabetes, raising funds as a member/participant of the Team Diabetes program or simply having a casual conversation with people — letting them know what things are like, I feel I can spread a positive light on what could be perceived as a negative situation.”

“I am a Diabetes Champion because…

I believe that to conquer this disease we must win the battles within ourselves first. I tell myself that diabetes is only a part of me and that the whole of “me” is what really matters. I win my battles by setting goals to reach, putting a plan together and executing it to the best of my ability. Once I have learned something new about “me and Diabetes”, I go on to the next thing. It only ends when we have won.”

“Henry, my Brother, living with diabetes for 20 years, was my supporter in Rome 2006 at the Team Diabetes marathon, aka King Henry. Henry did participate in Kelowna 2008 and has signed up for Ottawa May 2010. Henry is busy raising awareness for World Diabetes Day at the senior Lodge, for the staff, where he volunteers. He received a letter from the Mayor of Guelph, offering greetings to Diabetes Champions, Volunteers and Donors, which he will read out. The Mayor acknowledges also the Association for their continued work for people with diabetes. There will be fundraising for the Canadian Diabetes Association, at the Lodge’s Fair. Henry is involved with his church. Gertrude, Henry’s wife is legally blind and requires help from him 24/7. He is my Hero, my Diabetes Champion.”

We are Diabetes Champions for many reasons:
….for our family members who have, or have had diabetes
…for the kids at Camp Banting who so bravely take on the challenge of living with type 1 diabetes
…for our many friends who live with type 1 diabetes
…for our many friends who live with type 2 diabetes
…for all the people we know who have lost loved ones TOO EARLY due to this disease
…for a brighter future without diabetes

Sue Schaefer is a Diabetes Nurse Educator working with the Aboriginal Health Team for the Vancouver Island Health Authority. During her “free time”, her alter ego is Mrs. Pudding – an eccentric, grandmotherly woman who loves to eat, hates to exercise and is initially shocked to learn she has diabetes. Mrs. Pudding doesn’t think it’s fair she has diabetes but gradually learns she has the skills and power to control her illness and improve her health. Sue Schaefer has performed Mrs. Pudding skits in over 50 cities across western Canada. The character has proven particularly effective in First Nations communities, where diabetes rates are high and story telling is a respected teaching tool. Mrs. Pudding makes everyone laugh as she drives home the HEAL (Healthy Eating, Active Living) message. She has recently developed a new skit called “positively stressing out” which helps people with diabetes learn to deal with all the stresses we all face in addition to the ones particular to diabetes. Mrs. Pudding gives the audience a positive way to live with diabetes. Sue is a generous and skilled teacher who is passionate about her message. We are blessed to have Sue on Vancouver Island!

“I am a person that has been living with type 1 diabetes for over thirty years. Chronic illness is, and always will be, an important part of my life. When I first read about the movement to create a United Nations Resolution on Diabetes I knew this was something I wanted to work to support, to do what I could to help make the Resolution a reality. I have always held the work of the United Nations in high esteem. The UN Resolution represents an important way to attract attention to diabetes and for continuing diabetes advocacy against a global epidemic.

In order to do what I can to make the United Nations Resolution on Diabetes a reality, I became directly involved in the grass roots advocacy for this Resolution. I was elated when the landmark United Nations Resolution on Diabetes was passed in December 2006. The United Nations represents hope and possibility for our world and the United Nations Resolution on Diabetes represents hope and possibility for diabetes.

November 14, 2007 was the First United Nations Observed World Diabetes Day. I had the honour of being one of two representatives of the Canadian Diabetes Association at the UN Headquarters for this special day. It was even more special to be there with my family. To commemorate the UN Resolution on Diabetes, I started a Resolution Torch of Diabetes Advocacy at the UN Headquarters. Each year on World Diabetes Day, I add artifacts to the living time capsule and transport the torch to different locations to pass on messages to help evolve diabetes knowledge, attitudes and behaviours. Fittingly, one of the first foundation artifacts came from Grant Maltman, Curator, Banting House Canadian National Historic Site.”

“I have been living with type 1 diabetes for more than 35 years. As an active adolescent, I always struggled with low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) during exercise and sports. After completing a bachelors’ degree in Kinesiology at the University of Guelph in Ontario, I began graduate work under the supervision of a pediatric exercise specialist, Dr. Oded Bar-Or, at McMaster University. My thesis work helped establish new guidelines on how to prevent exercise-associated low blood sugar in active children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. As a post-doctoral student at the University of Toronto in Physiology, I learned more about how stress and exercise influence diabetes control under the supervision of Dr. Mladen Vranic, who is a world renowned scientist studying diabetes metabolism since the late 1950s. Now, as a professor of integrative physiology in the Faculty of Health at York University in Toronto, along with my enthusiastic and gifted graduate students, I continue to study the effects of stress and exercise on both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. We are able to do this though both support and funding from the Canadian Diabetes Association and the Canadian Institute for Health Research. Our studies include animal models of diabetes and humans with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes and more recently those with prediabetes. Remembering my own frustrations as a young athlete struggling with diabetes and sports, I recently developed an adolescent type 1 diabetes specialty sports camp where young athletes with diabetes can improve their skills at both diabetes management and their sport of interest (basketball, soccer or tennis). I firmly believe that learning from each other in an experiential setting helps improve diabetes management skills and motivation to be healthy in spite of our diabetes. Although it may seem like every day is surrounded by and about diabetes both personally and professionally, I would not want it any other way. Because of diabetes, I’ve made numerous life long friendships and I feel proud of my accomplishments and contributions in helping those with the disease live longer and healthier lives.”

“I am a Diabetes Champion because I have lived with type 1 diabetes for the last 45 years. I was diagnosed at 4 years of age and was told there would be a cure in 5 to 10 years. I’m still waiting. I have erratic blood sugars despite my excellent skills, abilities and knowledge. The duration of such a powerful disease has resulted in many complications.”