North Lopham mum preparing for 13,000ft drop for diabetes fundraiser
A North Lopham woman is preparing to throw herself out of a plane at 13,000ft in an effort to raise money for Diabetes UK – a year after her five-year-old son was diagnosed with the disease.
Mum-of-two Jodie Miller is attempting to raise £1,000 for the charity after her youngest son, Mason, was diagnosed with type one diabetes last year.
Speaking about Mason’s diagnosis in mid-August of last year, retail worker Miss Miller said: “He was drinking a lot more and kept needing to wee, so I took him to a doctor and they said they thought he had a water infection.
“They gave him some antibiotics but, in the period he was taking them, he became very unwell. I rang the doctors again and said ‘I know this isn’t sickness bug – this is something else’.
“I took him in, they took his blood and then whisked him off.
“When they called me through, he was all wired up and suddenly the reality hit me that something was very wrong.”
Doctors told Miss Miller that Mason – who had no history of diabetes on either his mother’s or father’s side – was a type one diabetic and had been taken to the high dependency unit at West Suffolk Hospital after his body had gone into shock.
Despite recovering, the new realities of living with the condition meant that Mason, who attends St Andrew’s Primary School in North Lopham, would need to take several insulin injections every day for the rest of his life, amongst a host of other challenges.
“It changes your whole life,” said Miss Miller, who lives in The Street.
“It’s the small things; the other night we got a pizza and had to work out exactly how many carbohydrates were in it to make sure it was safe for him to eat.
Miss Miller, whose eldest son Connor, nine, has autism and chronic lung disease, said that she felt compelled to give something back to Diabetes UK in an effort to help a charity which had supported the family since Mason was diagnosed.
“After his diagnosis, my head was all over the place,” said Miss Baker.
“When the diagnosis came, it felt like someone had pushed me out of a plane.
“I thought about raising some money to give back and I just thought, ‘why not?’
“Of course, I’m really nervous, but it’s something that has got to be done.
“It’s just so important – I didn’t realise how much goes into caring for people with diabetes – they need so many different resources.”
Miss Miller has the skydive pencilled in for March of next year, which will see her jump from a plane at 13,000ft in the air, travelling at speeds of up to 120 miles per hour towards a field in Beccles.
So far, the fundraiser has gathered £285, after being up for only two weeks.
“I’m so pleased with how much we’ve raised so far,” added Miss Miller.
“I thought at most we would have a £100, so to have achieved almost triple that is great.”
To donate to Miss Baker’s fundraiser, click here.