I am Emily Wilson, a young diabetic multisport athlete living in Wanaka. Earlier this year I was appointed as the International Diabetes Federation Young Leader to represent New Zealand at the World Diabetes Congress in Vancouver, Canada from November the 23rd to December the 4th.
As a newly diagnosed diabetic, I was surprised but absolutely thrilled to obtain this position and I am extremely excited to help empower those living with diabetes to take responsibility for their health and better manage their condition so that they can live their best life. I am passionate about improving people’s quality of life and am very keen to reduce the large and rapidly increasing prevalence of diseases like diabetes in New Zealand and the massive burden they have on our health care system.
With this in mind, I decided that this year on World Diabetes Day I would do something a little crazy to raise awareness of diabetes, the work that Diabetes N.Z does and can do for those affected and the need for more support, especially for those diabetics living in smaller communities.
I plan to ride my mountain bike to the equivalent height of Everest (8848m) up the Treble Cone skifield access road near Wanaka without stopping on World Diabetes Day.
The Everesting concept is all about picking a mountain or hill climb and being the first person to reach 8848m of vertical ascent on that climb. There have been only a small number of Everesting titles claimed around N.Z and definitely very few on a mountain with an average gradient of 11%. I did choose a killer of a climb but it will be a neat accomplishment to get into the Everesting Hall of Fame and it will be an amazing opportunity to show others that diabetes doesn’t have to hold you back from achieving anything you want to in life, it just takes a positive attitude and a little more planning!
I hope to have as many people as possible come out to Treble Cone and support me on the 14th November, either by riding a lap or coming to hang out in the support area at the bottom of the hill.
The support area will have information about diabetes, live music, food stalls, coffee and a four-wheel gravity quad bike that will be descending the height of Everest.
The next few weeks will be a busy build-up to the event, with the N.Z Diabetes Conference in Wellington and a race in Western Australia but I am well underway with plans for the day, focused on creating a fun atmosphere and delivering a positive, proactive message about preventing and managing diabetes.
I would really appreciate everyone’s help in advertising the event. For those that cannot be there on the day, they can always show their support by donating to Diabetes N.Z (http://www.givealittle.co.nz/org/diabetesnz). They are a great organisation with a massive task ahead of them to support the diabetics and the large and ever-growing number of people yet to be diagnosed.
Flyers will be out shortly and updates will be made on the Facebook event page.
Thanks in advance.
See you out there
Emily Wilson. Photo: Fairfax NZ
