I became diabetic at the age of 10 in June 2003 and am the only known person in my family to have it. many people have heard of diabetes but they don't fully understand what its really like, many people think that its all about chocolate and being allowed to eat it or not...well let me tell you now it isn't!

I inject myself 3 times a day. my mum says I'm a bit of a dizzy blonde sometimes because I can sometimes get into a bit of a muddle. there are a few times when I have dialled my insulin up too much and have also given myself the wrong insulin (but the right amount!) at the wrong time.

Many people say I am quite thin for my age, I have also been told by a girl in my class that if it wasn't for my diabetes I would be considered Anorexic ( I eat like a pig so I don't think that's true!).

I have met quite a few other people with diabetes, but am the youngest diabetic in my school. I feel very lucky about my diabetes and the way my family cope with it because some of the girls I have meet with diabetes have no freedom and there parents I feel are a bit too controlling. my mums simple rule is "you can eat just about everything in a moderation".

The day I was diagnosed with diabetes my mum new I wasn't right from the start. I had stayed over at my nans house the night before and had been sick in my nans sink that morning. My mum collected me and took me home but I continued to be sick.

By the evening I had been to see the doctors and was told if I am still being sick in the morning to come back, however a couple of hours later my mum trusted her instinct and took me back to the doctors (emergency doctors as the normal doctors was shut now) and was sent straight to casualty.

At the hospital I was then told that my blood reading was 33 and that if I hadn't come in that night I would of died. I spent 5 nights in hospital and was visited regularly by friends and family but my mum never left my side even with my brother only being a year old.

I wrote this essay with one purpose to thank my mum. Through thick and thin she has never left my side, always knowing what to do when I don't . she has lots to cope with my mum, but she never stops and never gives up and that's why I am here today.