Blinded By Binge Drinking

It took drastic consequences before Elisha Wallace, 32, finally started looking after her health

- Liannel Aborde And Laura Thomas

Picking up my shot glass, I drank the liquid down in one. ‘Cheers!’ I laughed. It was 2004 and, like many 18-year-olds, I loved going out drinking and partying with my friends. Most days, I’d join my college mates at the pub, drinking anything from spirits to wine and shots.

‘Only drink in moderation,’ doctors had told me. But I’d put their warnings out of my mind. I was having fun, just like any other teenager would.

The problem was, I had type 1 diabetes. I’d been diagnosed at the age of eight and needed daily insulin injections. I hadn’t let it bother me though and even watched as Mum or Dad would push the needle into my skin. But during my teenage years, the responsibility to make sure I kept up with my regular injections was all mine.

I got sick of constantly having to monitor my blood-sugar levels and keeping to a strict diet, so I started to rebel, skipping jabs and eating sweets behind my parents’ backs.

Doctors had warned me about taking my insulin properly.

‘If you don’t, you could lose limbs, your sight, suffer kidney failure,’ my specialist said. But I didn’t believe that would happen to me. After all, I felt fine – healthy, even. When I was 18, I stopped sneaking sweets and began drinking alcohol instead.