Nine-year-old Tom calls schoolmates to mark World Diabetes Day

Tom Hornett, a pupil at East Bergholt Primary School, was diagnosed with diabetes when he was just four years of age.

He is now looking to raise money for Diabetes UK and even led a school assembly, with support from deputy head Laura Tuttlebee, to explain his diabetes to the school and how it affects him every day.

Other children at the school also paid to paint their nails Blue for Diabetes.

Tom’s mum Jan Hornett said: “It’s a genetic condition but we never had it in the family, it was a shock.

“Diabetes UK have really helped support us as well as him, in coming to terms with the condition.

“He uses a closed loop pump system which maintains his blood sugars easily.

“It’s now become part of life for him - he realises his life is different from other people’s who don’t have to think about it.” 

Mrs Tuttlebee added: “This is a really brave moment for Tom to talk so openly about his diabetes and he is a very ambitious and determined young man who is set on raising awareness of diabetes.  

“He would like to support Diabetes UK in raising funds to support further research into a cure and new innovations to support those living with diabetes every day.”

On November 7, it was reported more than 150,000 adults and children with type 1 diabetes in England and Wales are to be offered an artificial pancreas on the NHS.

This 'hybrid' closed-loop system uses an algorithm to determine the amount of insulin that needs to be administered while also reading blood sugar levels to keep them steady.

Final draft guidance from the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (Nice) recommended that residents of England and Wales should benefit from the wearable device if their diabetes is not adequately controlled by their current pump or glucose monitor.

According to The Guardian, Nice's chief medical officer Jonathan Benger said: “Using hybrid closed-loop systems will be a game changer for people with type 1 diabetes."