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Life getting easier over diabetes, father says

BBC Mid shot image of Mehdi Taheri. Mr Taheri is wearing a black long sleeve jacket with a blue and white vest which states: "JDRF on the front". He is also wearing a purple beanie with a white JDRF logo on the front. BBC
Mr Taheri said he knew he was taking on "one hell of a challenge"

A father from Plymouth who is taking on a 600km (371-mile) running challenge - 12 ultra marathons in 12 days - says "life is getting easier" dealing with his daughter's type 1 diabetes because of advances in technology.

Mehdi Taheri, 40, said his daughter Scarlett, now aged 14, was diagnosed with the condition in 2012.

"I walked out, I couldn't really take it in. I was like, I need to cry," Mr Taheri said.

But, almost 10 years later, Mr Taheri said there was "light at the end of the tunnel" to deal with some aspects of the condition, partly thanks to the "amazing work" from two charities: Diabetes UK and Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF).

Scarlett and Medhi at a JDRF event. The dad and daughter are smartly dressed. They are stood shoulder-to-shoulder and smiling at the camera.
Scarlett was diagnosed in 2012

Mr Taheri said he was told Scarlett's diabetes would have left her with a 50/50 chance of survival if he had not taken her to Derriford Hospital in the city more than a decade ago.

He said: "That's the hardest I've ever been hit in my life.

"I said: 'You know what? I need to change this.'"

The 40-year old said he would be running 50km (31 miles) a day for 12 days in a bid to raise money for Breakthrough T1D and to mark the anniversary of her diagnosis.

The challenge will begin on 19 November and end on 30 November, he said.

"[What] we've got coming is a hell of a challenge," he said.

"There's a light at the end of the tunnel. Life is getting easier."

As an example, he highlighted how Scarlett's blood sugar levels could be monitored by a sensor attached to her and read via wireless technology, instead of her having to get pinpricks of blood to be analysed a few times a day.

Mr Taheri said it meant he could check her blood sugars when she was asleep instead of having to wake her to get a pinprick sample.

Talking more about his challenge and his work to raise awareness, he added: "I want them [people with diabetes] to feel at peace or at least appreciate normal life. The only dream is to love.

"[We can] Make life better for people with type 1 and the only goal is to find a cure."

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