A diabetic five-year-old Nantwich girl has been fundraising for a diabetes charity by selling magical reindeer food!
Little Sofia decided she wanted to raise awareness after she was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes.
And in just a week she managed to see almost 100 bags of magical reindeer food in aid of the charity T1D Breakthrough (formerly JDRF).
Sofia’s mum Beth and stepdad Rhys said the youngster was diagnosed two and a half years ago.
Beth said: “Raising awareness of Type One is really important to us as lots of people she meets don’t know what it is, or have only heard of Type Two.
“So in order to raise awareness and fundraise she made bags of magical reindeer food to sell in our local community, friends and family – a wildlife safe recipe.
“And she had a fantastic week of fundraising and raising awareness. She has sold 95 bags of reindeer food since!”
Beth said her daughter, who was born at Leighton Hospital in July 2019, was diagnosed just three months before her third birthday.
She noticed symptoms of the 4 Ts of Type One – including going to the toilet more often, increased thirst, feeling tired and losing weight and becoming thinner.
“I was lucky I spotted it and took her to the GP to be checked where we were referred onto Leighton for a four-night stay which was life-changing,” added Beth.
“I held it together for Sofia in the day but spent each night upset and scared for her.
“But she has been incredible, she is so resilient, she never complains about needing her finger pricked for blood glucose tests, or having to wait for her insulin to act to eat her food.
“Other people would describe Sofia as very kind and caring, always looking out for others and concerned about others feelings.”
Beth says they cannot leave the house without thinking about Sofia’s condition, having to take extra snacks and jelly babies for hypo treatment.
She added: “Sofia uses an Omnipod 5 insulin pump which delivers her basal and bolus insulin, it’s made life so much better than needing multiple daily subcutaneous injections.
“Instead it’s one needle every three days for a cannula change, this is only possible through research which is why fundraising for this research is so important.
“We are incredibly lucky of these advancements in medicine, whilst we have to keep Sofia alive everyday through delivering insulin, the technology enables a life as close to her peers as possible.
“There will be challenges as she grows, and we are lucky she hasn’t yet experienced a diabetic Ketoacidosis.
“Next year Sofia wants to continue fundraising and raising awareness so this is just the start!”
You can help Sofia’s fundraising by visiting her Justgiving Page here.
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