I still remember my heroes from my youth. They're still my heroes today to a degree, although I now view them as just extremely talented people rather than the deities of my teens. I'm sure Eric Cantona and the Gallagher brothers will be devastated by that news.
Who is heroic, what an heroic act is and who inspires me have all changed with age. I'm aware that makes me sound like a wise pensioner. I'm neither wise nor quite that old.
Recently, I read a Facebook status from a friend of mine. We went to Primary and Secondary school together. Although she was a year older than me and we never spoke about diabetes at any length, there was a "quiet friendship" between us. The same for another friend of a similar age. We all knew we had T1D but it wasn't the T1D Club. We didn't get together to talk about insulin. I digress! My friend has had T1D for 40 years. She has a family, going through childbirth more than once without the help of CGMs or pumps, has seemingly lived a happy life and currently has no complications from diabetes.
Is she heroic? I don't think so. She is certainly inspiring to me and I'm absolutely delighted that her life has gone and is going so well. I made a post about this on Twitter and the vast majority who commented agreed, some sharing their own T1D "longevity" story. A small minority took the tweet as some sort of indicator that having complications must make them a failure. That is so far from the truth that it would be laughable if complications weren't so cruel and serious. I mean, I should know right? Having lived with eye complications for 10 years.
I find the stories of those living a happy, long life to be uplifting. There is often a sense of doom and gloom surrounding T1D. A sense that life will be cut short and complications are a guarantee. That you might never have children must be a terribly upsetting prospect for many and mostly untrue. Those things, along with "You'll be blind in 10 years" are also simply not true. This is not the 1970s. You can have T1D and live a long, fulfilling life.
Are there heroes within diabetes? I think so. I think those who work to get the best outcomes for people living with T1D could be described as heroic. "It's my job" is correct, largely but for those who go the extra mile, those who don't take a day off, those will be reply to a message or email on a Sunday evening because somebody needs help or advice - that's heroic to me because you're making a difference without any incentive to do so. You make a difference because you passionately care and it makes no difference to your bank balance.
Not all heroes wear capes.
