Diabetes battle inspired Lavena, 14, to take up new career to help others struggling with the condition

Fourteen-year-old Lavena McStocker from Moneyglass in Co Antrim, was diagnosed with type one diabetes when she was only eight, but found it difficult to accept the condition.

According to the charity Diabetes UK NI, young people with diabetes aged 13 to 25 are three times more likely to have psychological problems than those without the condition.

Lavena said: “From the very start of my diagnosis I completely ignored it – I didn’t want to deal with it. I really put my head in the sand over it and didn’t talk to anyone about it. I didn’t want people to know about it.”

She manages her diabetes through an insulin pump that injects insulin into her body numerous times a day.

However joining the youth project ‘Our Lives, Our Voices’ - run by Diabetes UK NI - turned out to be transformational. As she did not like talking about the condition she was anxious about joining.

“But it wasn’t like talking to medical professionals, who would tell me where I was going wrong with my diabetes. It was a friendly point of view of how to cope with things for them to get better.”

After joining she helped design the four-week Wellbeing programme, which provides emotional support and skills for teenagers with diabetes.

But going through the programme proved transformational. She went from not talking about diabetes to sharing her experience with over 100 student nurses.

“Adults don’t have the same perspective as a young person,” she said. “They don’t necessarily know where they are coming from or how they are feeling. So, to have young people helping design the Wellbeing programme I thought was a great idea. It is designed by young people for young people so it’s dealing with issues that concern them.

Lavena added: “Now I would like to become a psychologist specialising in diabetes as having the condition has such an impact on your mental wellbeing. There is still a lot of stigma surrounding that aspect of diabetes. I think by becoming a psychologist I could help break that down and help others.”

The next Wellbeing programme starts on February 24. To sign-up email: [email protected]

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