Pumping up the volume for a good cause

Denise O'Hagan was shocked when she discovered both her children had diabetes. Three years ago Catherine Marshall, now aged 6, and her older sister Anna, aged 9, were diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes within months of each other. The girls, from Good Shepherd School in Balmoral, have two insulin injections every day and a strict eating regime. ''The initial shock was the worst part, finding out one child had Type 1 diabetes,'' says Denise. ''Your whole life becomes really structured around food and injections. Having another child on top is not twice as bad but twice as much juggling and worry.'' Denise, from Mt Albert, says the one thing that could make life easier for the girls is an insulin pump that automatically administers the drug into the body without injecting it. The cost to purchase and run a pump is $10,000 a year and although some are funded by the Government, and The Starship Foundation raises enough money to buy 10 every year, many cannot afford to buy their own. A community project called Pump up the Volume is trying to raise funds to purchase one or more insulin pumps for children who cannot afford to buy one. Pump up the Volume founder Desiree Botica says she wants other families to benefit from insulin pumps like her 7 year-old daughter Hannah Easton, who has Type 1 diabetes. The family bought a pump a year ago and it transformed her life. Insulin pumps increase the quality of life by creating more freedom and flexibility around the strict routine of when and what food to eat. ''It's something that has been in my mind for a long time and the experience I have had with Hannah has inspired me to want to do this for someone else,'' says Desiree. ''There's funding available, but there's no guarantee and there's not enough going around for people who would want funding.'' The project is supported by the Starship Hospital and Diabetes Youth. -For info call Desiree Botica on 623 3913. - By Renee Jones