By Luke Voogt
Grovedale’s Amanda Lenehan would give anything to find a cure for her son Isaac’s Type 1 diabetes.
“I’d sell the house – it wouldn’t matter how much it would cost,” she said.
Since Isaac’s diagnosis, Amanda has walked, held sales and even skydived with her mum and sister to fund-raise for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
“We’ve probably raised about $20,000 over six years,” she said.
Amanda and three local mums – the self-titled “T1 Troopers” – will put on a children’s disco this weekend in their latest fund-raising effort.
The mums met through their sons, who befriended Isaac when he started primary school.
Amanda said Isaac’s friends would help him if he had a “hypo” – a hypoglycaemic event blood sugar drops low.
This included keeping him company at lunchtime if he was required to stay inside with a teacher monitoring his condition.
“They look after each other so well,” she said.
The boy’s friendship inspired Amanda to write a book, Peeking into Type 1 Diabetes, after her son tried to explain the condition to his friends.
“I didn’t think there was anything really basic to explain to kids,” she said.
She has sold about 200 copies and was thrilled to help young children understand diabetes.
“I wasn’t writing it to be published or anything, I was just writing it for us,” she said.
“When you’re five or six years old at school it’s a bit hard to explain why you have a pump into you.”
When Isaac was three, his family decided to use a stomach pump to deliver his insulin.
Amanda explained insulin needles required diabetics to eat at regular intervals, whereas the pump allows the user to input settings based on their needs.
“It’s a bit more individualised. It just gives us a bit more freedom.”
Amanda described the looking after a child with diabetes as full- on.
“You just have the phone on you all the time,” she said.
Isaac’s grandfather has had Type 1 diabetes for 40 years and uses an insulin pen instead.
Amanda said she wanted to dispel the myth that diabetes resulted from poor eating habits.
“Anyone can get it, at any age.”
The T1 Troopers put on their first disco last year, after discovering a friend of Isaac’s dad was a former DJ.
Phillipa Sharp was one of the “Troopers“ who organised the event.
“It all stems from a group of beautiful boys forming a friendship,” she said.
She said Isaac and Amanda’s journey inspired her.
“He’s a strong little boy.”
The Disco for Isaac starts at 6pm on Saturday at Grovedale Community Hub. All proceeds will go to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Barwon Health Foundation. For more information, email kidsdisco4isaac@outlook.com.
