Double amputee on a powerful mission to educate people on diabetes

Gary Carter says it would mean the world to him to be able to drive his Holden Commodore again. Photo / Caitlan Johnston

"My name's Gary Wayne Carter, I'm a type 2 diabetic and a double amputee."

Gary wanted to be a truck driver, he longs to go on weekend drives and he really wants to get behind the wheel of his Holden Commodore again.

But he can't do any of that.

"I went to go for my truck licence and you have to be medically fit but as soon as they saw the urine test I did they said you're not going anywhere – you're a type 2 diabetic," says Gary.

"I couldn't do it, I was shattered.

"I didn't know what a diabetic was."

He was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 18 years ago - when he was in his early 50s, and he lost his first leg in 2017 and the second subsequently a year later.

He lost his legs because having diabetes can cause damage to your blood vessels over time.

Gary had also been told he had impaired glucose tolerance but for some time kept eating sugary foods.

Gary says he loved sweet stuff, biscuits and lollies, but now he wouldn't dare to touch any.

And since becoming a diabetic he's made it his mission to learn as much as possible about the disease and he shares his story to educate people.

To help him get around Gary has a motorised wheelchair, a manual wheelchair, a-frames and prosthetics. Photo / Caitlan Johnston

"He's just an everyday Kiwi bloke, he's a really good guy and he's using his story for power to educate rather than hiding it away," says Raukawa Charitable Trust long-term conditions nurse Brenda Gordon.

"He is the poster boy of what could happen when you have your head in the sand and you don't actually self-manage your chronic diseases."

Most recently, Gary gave a talk at Waikeria Prison with a group of prisoners who all proceeded to avoid eating potatoes that night, says Gary.

His advice is to go and get checked. If you have symptoms – go and get checked.

"It probably would have made a difference if I went to the doctors earlier, but I was fit – well I thought I was fit and I didn't think there was a need to go to the doctor," says Gary.

When he lost his first leg he had to shift his whole life up from Wellington to Te Awamutu to be closer to his son.

He was born and bred in the capital city and it is his favourite place in New Zealand.

To aid him through everyday life Gary has a hospital bed, a manual wheelchair, a-frames, a motorised wheelchair, a ramp and prosthetics which he is still learning to use.

His nurse, Brenda, visits him once every two weeks to a month but to get his prescriptions he has to get himself to the doctors.

Brenda says if people don't manage their diabetes then it can cause damage to kidneys, nerves, eyes, heart and blood vessels.

"It's just the old usual story, screening is the big key," says Brenda.

"Always make sure you know where your level is at – it's about that self-monitoring and then from that point it's all about diet and exercise. It's really simple."

Gary Carter was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes 18 years ago and had both his legs amputated because of the disease. Photo / Caitlan Johnston

In New Zealand it is estimated the number of people diagnosed with predominantly type 2 diabetes exceeds 250,000 people and Brenda says the disease is getting younger among New Zealanders too.

Worldwide, the International Diabetes Federation reports diabetes is one of the fastest growing health challenges of the 21st century.

A staggering 463 million adults, aged 20 to 79 years, are estimated to be living with diabetes – type 1 or 2 - and a further 1.1 million children and adolescents under the age of 20 live with type 1 diabetes.

"That's pandemic," says Gary.

If there was only one thing Gary could do again, he says it would be to drive and that he would go to Wellington.

"It'd mean the world to me, the freedom. I'd just go on a long drive," says Gary.