Wine Or My Sight? I Chose Wine...

When faced with a stark choice, Elisha Wallace, 30, made a shocking decision.

- Laura Thomas & Rebecca Wright

Most kids have a fussy phase and when mine started, aged eight, my mum, Jennifer, and dad, Danny, tried not to indulge it.

I would refuse meals, eating only sugary food instead. Only then I began feeling really sleepy and needed the loo constantly.

As the weeks passed, and I developed a never-ending thirst and began losing weight, Mum and Dad began to worry something was really wrong. Concerned, my mum took me to the GP.

After being referred to hospital, in February 1995, the doctor explained I had type 1 diabetes. The words didn’t mean much to me, but he explained my body couldn’t regulate my blood sugar, so I’d have to inject myself with insulin four times a day. I’d also have to prick my finger to take blood tests several times daily.

At first I didn’t mind but, after starting secondary school, I began to hate how diabetes was creeping into every part of my life. Unlike my friends I couldn’t gorge on sweets and fizzy drinks. By the time I was 13 I started rebelling, getting slack about my injections and testing. Because I felt fine, I convinced myself I didn’t need to bother with half my injections or checking my blood sugar at all. At my three-monthly check-ups, my doctor would ask if I was doing them and I’d brazenly nod my head. Lying was the only way to keep him – and my parents – from nagging.

As I got older, my doctor told me to only drink moderately because alcohol, especially sugar-laden alcopops, could cause an imbalance in my blood sugar. ‘In extreme cases this can lead to amputations or even blindness,’ he said.

Partying hard