An Island patient has been awarded the Robert Lawrence medal for living with diabetes for 60 years.
David Savill from Cowes has been attending the Diabetes Centre at St Mary’s Hospital for the past 40 years and receiving regular care.
Type 1 and 2 diabetes means your body cannot produce enough insulin or when the insulin that is produced doesn’t work properly. If untreated, it can cause very serious health problems. Being diagnosed with diabetes means making lifestyle changes – people with diabetes often need additional treatments such as medication to control their diabetes, blood pressure and blood fats.
Mr Savill was first diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1955 and has been under the care of healthcare professionals at the Diabetes Centre since, which is a specialist resource centre offering advice and care for people who have diabetes and the healthcare professionals who look after them.
The Lawrence medal was presented to Mr Savill on Tuesday by Dr Al-Mrayat, Consultant Physician at St Mary’s Hospital. Mr Savill’s wife and carer, Joan, also attended.
Speaking about living with diabetes, Mr Savill said:
“Diabetes has become a way of life for me. I think I worked out I have given myself over 33,800 injections over the years so I’m getting pretty good at it. But I don’t like to think that I am ‘suffering’ with diabetes at all, I’m living with it and its just a bit of me that doesn’t work.
“The care at St Mary’s Diabetes Centre is excellent. I only see them every 6 months now as I’m a good diabetic”.
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If you could like to know more about the signs and syptoms of diabetes go to the diabetes uk website at www.siabetes.org.uk where you can also access a test to see if you are at risk of developing diabetes.
Photographed L-R: Joan Savill, David Savill and Dr Al-Mrayat
