How did an Edmonton girl, 12, come to represent Canada at a Washington, D.C., diabetes event?
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Delegates, aged 4 to 17, from across the United States and international affiliates including Australia, the U.K., and the Netherlands gathered for training and storytelling July 7 to July 9.
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Emily, who was diagnosed with T1D at age 8, met with leaders at the Canadian Embassy and joined other youth in sharing what daily life with this chronic autoimmune disease is really like.
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Postmedia sat down with Emily and her mother, Nicole Gervais, to talk about the experience, the challenges of managing diabetes, and what they hope others took away from her journey.
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Q&A with Emily Gervais
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Q: What was it like being in Washington, D.C., and representing Canada at the Children's Congress?
A: 'It was a big honour for me, because I was the only representative from Canada there. It was really cool. It just made me really happy.'
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Q: How did it feel to meet other kids who also live with T1D?
A: 'It really made me feel almost normal, because there were other kids who were going through the same thing as me and that I'm not different, just the same as everyone else in the room.'
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Q: What did you talk about during your visit to the Canadian Embassy?
A: 'I got to talk about renewing the Special Diabetes Program to Congress and what our lives were like, what we had to go through with our medical condition.'
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Q: Has the trip changed how you think about living with diabetes or sharing your story?
A: 'It definitely gave me more hope for a cure, because there's lots of people talking about recent research and cell therapy and different things that are pushing towards the cure.'
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Q: How does type 1 diabetes affect your daily routine, at home and at school?
A: 'Sometimes in the middle of the night, my blood sugar drops, and my parents have to wake up to check on me. They don't always get much sleep because they're worried about my levels. In the morning, I love cereal, but I usually avoid it because it makes my blood sugar spike out of range.
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