Thandie Marin

Jumping for a cure 🪂

Contrary to the belief of many, type 1 diabetes is not caused by a bad diet, unhealthy weight or lifestyle choices. It is a chronic, lifelong, autoimmune condition where T cells destroy pancreatic beta cells inside the pancreas. It can sneak up on anyone of any age at any time, and 8 Australians are diagnosed every day. Type 1 diabetics must make an average of 180 more decisions a day than someone without type 1 diabetes would in order to remain safe, healthy and alive.

For me, this year marks 18 years since diagnosis! Long story short, for many years, type 1 diabetes meant multiple daily finger pricks and injections, plus many sporadic hospital trips. As I’ve gotten older, injections and finger pricks quickly evolved into insulin pumps and CGMs. Type 1 diabetes is far from easy to manage and it’s a condition that comes with good days and bad days - it can be both physically and emotionally taxing for everyone diagnosed. But, this revolutionary technology lightens the load significantly. So, in hopes of further progression in the development of technology and advances in research that could lead to a cure one day - including recent developments in islet cell transplant research - I decided that this would be a good time to raise some money towards Breakthrough T1D’s type one diabetes research.

In 2023, I raised almost $2500 in donations to Breakthrough T1D and dyed my hair blue to raise awareness for type 1 diabetes. This time, I’ll be doing something a little different. If I am able to reach my fundraising goal of $1500, I’ll be participating in Breakthrough T1D’s jump for a cure in October 2025. For the record, skydiving is definitely NOT on my bucket list…

I understand not everyone is in the position to contribute a monetary donation, but if you still want to contribute, you can do so by sharing the link to donate. All funds raised are donated directly to Breakthrough T1D. If you have any questions about type 1 diabetes or contributing to this cause, please feel free to ask me or visit the Breakthrough T1D website. 💙