A DAD whose daughter was diagnosed with type one diabetes when she was just five has cycled from London to Paris to raise funds for research into the condition.
Vince Scaife wears a special watch which vibrates to tell him when his now 13-year-old daughter Paige’s blood sugar is too high or too low. She wears a pump which automatically gives her a dose of insulin through a cannula every hour, as well as a constant glucose monitor which reads her blood sugar levels every five minutes and sends updates to Vince’s watch.
Vince said there were lots of misconceptions about type one diabetes - it’s not about eating too many sweets or too much chocolate - and said it can be extremely difficult for children with the condition.
He wanted to do something to raise awareness and also raise money for JDRF, the type one diabetes charity which funds medical research.
He joined 11 other dads from across the country in riding more than 300km from London to Paris last week.
“It was a really great ride. It was a bit miserable on the first day riding to Newhaven but it brightened up once we got across the Channel,” said Vince, 45, of Oakroyd Crescent, Grimethorpe.
“I rang Paige as soon as we got there. It was rather emotional, she wished me well and said she was proud of me.
“Everything went fine, except for falling off once. My ribs hurt a little bit, but other than that everything was fine.
“I’ve never cycled that distance before in consecutive days, it was hard. But everyone looked after everyone else. Some went to the back of the group and waited for everyone else.
“The first day was extremely hard because of the rain, and the second day was difficult because we’d had little sleep - we caught the ferry from Newhaven at 11pm and arrived in Dieppe at 4am UK time.
“We’d had very little sleep and cycled another 110km that day in wet clothes.
“But it got easier when the sun came out.
“It was a lovely ride and there was some fantastic countryside.
“Our fundraising page is just short of £12,000 and we’re actually already organising next year’s cycle. We’re hoping to get some mums involved too.”
