Bella was four years old and full of spark so her family was very quick to notice when suddenly she started to behave differently. She became increasingly thirsty and just wasn’t herself.

One morning Bella drank five 250ml bottles of water before 10am.It was then that Bella’s mum knew something was wrong. She took Bella to her GP who tested her blood glucose level and told the family to rush her up to the local hospital.

As soon as they got to the hospital they immediately took Bella through to emergency. Not long after, the doctors came in to tell her parents that Bella had type 1 diabetes. It was very scary and worrying. Her blood glucose level was 36: she was a couple of days away from ketoacidosis.

Life changed for everyone that day – 20 May 2013. It is a date that the family will always remember. Now the family lives a ‘new normal’ and they do the best they can while riding the rollercoaster called diabetes.

Fast five questions with Bella

1. Are you using a pump or on injections? Insulin pump

2. What’s your go-to hypo treatment? Soft lollies and juice

3. How do you feel when you have a hypo? Shaky, dizzy and confused

4. What’s the hardest part about having diabetes? Having to wake in the middle of the night to treat a hypo

5. What’s your number one wish? That I didn’t have diabetes and that type 1 became type none