A VALIANT youngster from Aberdyfi has spoken out about the trials and tribulations of having diabetes, and how he used to face ten injections a day.

Earlier this year, 11-year-old Oli Nicol, alongside his dad and brother Sam, completed a sponsored five kilometre walk to raise money for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

JDRF funds research that intends to cure, treat and prevent type 1 diabetes and all of it its complications.

Oli told the Cambrian News: “I have been a type 1 diabetic since I was five. 

“To me now it’s just normal, but I have to constantly monitor my blood sugar levels. 

“I have to think about what I’m eating and what activity I’m doing, think about the weather, be aware if I’m worried or excited, all these things affect my blood sugar levels and have an effect on my health. 

“Sometimes I have to stop what I’m doing if I’m hypo, so I miss out. 

“I don’t make a fuss, it’s just part of me and I don’t remember being any different.”

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition with instances of diabetes set to rise by 10 per cent in Gwynedd over the next 15 years.

“For some reason, your immune system, which is meant to protect you from viruses and bacteria, attacks and destroys the insulin producing cells in your pancreas, called beta cells,” Oli said.

“When you eat, insulin moves the energy from your food, called glucose, from your blood into the cells of your body.

“When you have Type 1 diabetes, the beta cells in your pancreas fail to produce insulin, glucose levels in your blood start to rise and your body can’t function properly. Over time this high level of glucose in the blood can damage nerves and blood vessels and the organs they supply.”

Despite his condition, Ysgol Uwchradd Tywyn Year 7 pupil remains in high spirits.

“I am really lucky as I have a pump which makes things easier, but when I was first diagnosed I had to have injections, sometimes I had as many as ten a day,” he said.

Read the full story in this week’s Meirionnydd edition of the Cambrian News