A New Place To Land

Jeremy Robertson, type 1, is paving the way for Australian pilots requiring insulin therapy

- Ellie Griffiths

“I remember sitting by myself in the doctor’s office in Los Angeles,” recalls 42-year-old Jeremy Robertson of his diagnosis ten years ago. “I didn’t know anyone in town and I knew enough about diabetes to know that type 1, at that point, automatically disqualified you from holding a Class 1 aviation medical [a certificate required to be a commercial pilot in Australia]. So I knew that my career stopped dead that day.”

Jeremy had been working as a pilot with Qantas on the Boeing 747 and 767 for nine years when, in early 2010, he enrolled in a course at the National Test Pilot School in California to further his career. During the first week, Jeremy noticed he was drinking and urinating more often, and when his vision went blurry he knew something was off. After all, you can’t fly a plane without clear vision.

Attending the local medical centre in LA, Jeremy learnt his BGLs were 25.5mmol/L and he was given a shot of insulin and a bottle of Metformin tablets. “I remember calling my fiancé – this was six weeks before our wedding – crying and just not knowing what was going to happen,” he explains. “So I got on the next plane home to Australia and I went through the remainder of the formal diagnosis process.”

Changing lanes