WHEN he was six, Paul Sanderson fell sick and lost half his body weight.

For several weeks, he just lay on the sofa with no energy. Paul drank glass after glass of water, but wouldn’t eat.

His GP could not figure out what was wrong and eventually the youngster was rushed to the former St John’s Hospital, in Chelmsford.

There, he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, a relatively rare condition in children at the time.

After two weeks on a drip, Paul had the first of 32,000 injections he was administered until winning NHS funding for an insulin pump.

Now 42, the father-of-two is one of 60 people selected to attend Type 1 Parliament, an event at the House of Commons intended to persuade MPs to support an increase in funding to find a cure.

In June, Paul will join other Type 1 diabetes sufferers on an 118-mile tour of
north Yorkshire, starting in Leeds and ending at Harrogate.

So far, Paul has raised around £1,400. To support him, visit
www.justgiving.com/Paul-Sanderson7

For more, see Wednesday's Gazette