{"id":10570,"date":"2025-07-18T16:18:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T06:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/?p=10570"},"modified":"2025-07-18T16:22:45","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T06:22:45","slug":"world-diabetes-week-meet-jackson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/world-diabetes-week-meet-jackson\/","title":{"rendered":"World Diabetes Week \u2013 Meet Jackson"},"content":{"rendered":"

For 11-year-old Jackson and his family, managing Type 1 Diabetes has been a journey of learning, adjustment and teamwork. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At 18-months-old, Jackson \u201cwas going through his nappies and drinking like crazy,\u201d said his mum, Cass. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After years of supporting her husband Stephen, a T1 diabetic himself, Cass recognised the signs of a high glucose level. After confirming the reading with Stephen’s glucometer, she rushed Jackson to the hospital. He was later diagnosed with the life-long autoimmune condition. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Affecting over 120,000 Australians, T1 diabetes is a condition that occurs when the body loses its ability to produce a hormone called insulin. If symptoms go unchecked, it can cause dehydration, vomiting, loss of consciousness, and in extreme circumstances \u2013 it can be fatal.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Equipped with a lifetime of experience, Stephen and Cass were ready for anything. From carb counting and meal planning to insulin injections and glucose monitoring, the daily tasks became part of a new normal.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For Jackson\u2019s siblings Ashton (10) and Mason (7), life was no different. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe boys are really accepting, they know what they need to know, and he\u2019s [Jackson] just their annoying big brother,\u201d says Cass.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Like many T1 diabetics however, battling misconceptions about the condition is a recurring challenge.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are always misunderstandings about what he can and can\u2019t eat, I have had lots of conversations with parents worried about him,\u201d says Cass.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard when people don\u2019t understand why you have to do what you do sometimes,\u201d says Jackson.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Following in his father’s footsteps, Jackson attends The RCH Diabetes Clinic in Hamilton, a service providing regional families with care closer to home.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Now fitted with a new insulin pump, a device to help steady his condition, Jackson is gaining more independence.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A footy fan, school captain and T1 awareness advocate, this bright young boy won\u2019t let anything get in his way.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe just takes it on; he\u2019s my little superhero. I think he\u2019s the strongest person I know,\u201d says Cass.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI want him to live a complication-free life.\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In support of families like Jackson’s, and the thousands of Australians diagnosed with T1 or T2 diabetes, we recognise World Diabetes Week. It\u2019s an opportunity to spread awareness and commend the resilience of those living with these conditions.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more about our Diabetes service<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For 11-year-old Jackson and his family, managing Type 1 Diabetes has been a journey of learning, adjustment and teamwork. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6838,"featured_media":10573,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8971,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6838"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10570"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10570\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10576,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10570\/revisions\/10576"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rch.org.au\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}