Four-year-old diabetic gets a boost

Four-year-old Sean van der Merwe, based in Centurion, Pretoria, suffers from type 1 diabetes. This means that he is insulin dependent and has had to have insulin injections every day to control his blood sugar levels, which can be quite scary for a four year old.

Now, thanks to Aircraft Finance Corporation (AFC) and a number of other donors, Sean has a new insulin pump and blood-sugar sensor that makes life much easier. The new pump uses continuous glucose monitoring technology, which monitors the changes in Sean’s glucose level, thereby averting adverse diabetic episodes.

AFC was made aware of Sean’s condition through Neil Bothma, helicopter sales executive at Money Aviation, and Quinton Warne, from Investment Aircraft. Both companies are suppliers to AFC.

Bothma took it upon himself to raise funds to cover the costs of Sean’s insulin pump and blood-sugar sensor. The AFC team rallied together to raise part of the amount required.

“AFC is delighted to hear that Sean is doing very well and we are pleased to have been part of the solution to meeting this little boy’s medical needs,” says Ryan Forrester, managing director at AFC. “Managing type 1 diabetes in children is tricky, but we’re so glad that we could help to make things a little bit easier for him and his family.”

The other parties involved with funding the pump and sensor were: Angus Money, from Money Aviation; Adrian Barry, from Wana Fly; CDC Aviation’s Piet van Blerk; Axel Razdom, from R&D Screening Technologies; GEMAIR’s Andries Venter and Ian Walker, from Lanseria Aircraft Interiors/Exteriors.