I climbed a mountain today. In fact, I climbed the highest mountain in Wales (elevation 1,085 metres or 3,560 feet) and the highest point in the British Isles outside the Scottish Highlands.

It was tough. Especially because both myself and my husband, John, (who climbed with me) have type 1 diabetes. Twenty minutes into the climb I had a pretty epic low blood sugar. It was one of those low blood sugars that seems to take eons to come back to the ‘normal’ range. I was anxious (and already exhausted from the lack of glucose in my blood) and I wanted to turn back and stop right then. I was thinking of all the possible things that could go wrong throughout the day: more low blood sugars, running out of hypo supplies, taking so long to finish the ascent and decent that the sun would set and we would be on the path in the dark, and on and on. I was thinking of the many, many ups and downs that I would probably face throughout the day in regards to my blood sugars, my emotions, and my energy.

You’ll be happy to know that John and I finished the entire climb, to the peak and back again, in less than six hours. It was during the moment when I decided to continue (despite type 1 diabetes getting in the way) that I realized I was doing the climb for T1International.

Life with type 1 diabetes is complicated enough – it makes already challenging activities even more challenging. It makes you want to quit when you face seemingly unending ups and downs. But I just couldn’t quit when I thought about T1International, how far we’ve come, and how much further there is to go. If my friends with type 1 diabetes around the world face things like an inability to test their blood sugar more than one time a week, lack of access to essential insulin and syringes, or crisis situations with little to no humanitarian aid, the least I can do is climb up a mountain while managing my type 1 diabetes.

Climbing that mounting was tricky and scary at times. There were boulders in our path and lots of twists and turns, but we did it. It feels like a perfect analogy for T1International and the effort it takes to change things that are unfair and unjust. It is by no means easy, but it’s possible. As a charity, we’ll continue sharing the stories of people who face tougher situations than many of us like to imagine. We’ll support people who need resources and continue to get to the root of the problems so that together we can advocate and tackle the injustice of a lack of access to everything that a person with type 1 needs. There were boulders in our path and lots of 

I now ask you to support T1International, and the fact that John and I were able to tackle Snowdon despite having type 1 diabetes, by making a donation. I ask for your generosity because T1International is an organization that is sincerely committed to a better life for everyone with type 1 diabetes. We want to change things in a lasting, concrete way. This means changing policy and systems, and working closely with communities who deal with the most difficult issues. It’s going to be an uphill battle, be we won’t stop until we’ve achieved our mission

Check out the rest of our website to learn more about what we do, how we spread the word, support others, and fight for justice. Help us support others who are climbing that metaphorical mountain but facing much more daunting challenges along the way.