40 half marathons in a year to mark 40 years of living with type 1 diabetes
Introduction
In this video Paul Coker, a 45 year old man who lives in South Wales, explains why he decided to run 40 half marathons in a year to demonstrate that diabetes does not stop you achieving your goals and in 2014 he reached the summit of Kilimanjaro with 16 other amazing people who also have type 1 diabetes and an equally impressive support team.
Paul says that having the right support is crucial to helping him to live with type 1 diabetes. This challenge aims to raise awareness of the symptoms of type 1 diabetes. That is why Paul dedicated his amazing challenge to run 40 Half Marathons in his 40th year of living with Type 1 Diabetes to the #RunForDude campaign.
Video Transcript
Hi my name is Paul Coker, and I’m about to celebrate my fortieth year of living with Type 1 diabetes. To do this, I’m going to run 40 half marathons, and I’m dedicating that challenge to the memory of Peter Baldwin.
Peter Baldwin
In January of 2015, Peter was taken to his family doctor because he was unwell. The doctor diagnosed a chest infection. Unfortunately, that chest infection was masking the underlying cause of Peter’s illness. In fact, he actually had Type 1 diabetes. His family didn’t recognise it, his doctor didn’t recognise it, and there was no family history. Nobody in his family knew anything about diabetes.
Peter’s story is not that unusual. The thing that is unusual is that Peter tragically died from his undiagnosed Type 1 diabetes. By the time he got to hospital, there was simply very little that they could do, and his body was shutting down. His death was completely preventable, and I know, speaking to his family, that they have a huge desire to make sure that this doesn’t happen to anybody else.
That’s why I’m dedicating this challenge to Peter’s legacy. I want to help the Baldwin family and Diabetes UK raise awareness of Type 1 diabetes. I want every family in the country to know the four cardinal signs of Type 1 diabetes. They are that you are thirsty, you’re thinner, you’re going to the toilet a lot, and you’re tired.
Four signs.(thirsty, tired, thinner, toilet). If you see any one of those signs, please go to your doctor and ask to be tested for diabetes. The test takes just five seconds, and takes one drop of blood. That’s why this website is called One Bloody Drop.