Christmas has come early for one youngster.

Grace Skinner, 12, injects herself with insulin up to 35 times a week to keep her Type 1 diabetes under control.

But her wish to lead a 'normal’ life finally came true when NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent agreed to fund an insulin pump as an alternative to multiple daily injections.

Grace, form Sittingbourne, was fitted with the pump at the beginning of the week and on Tuesday will start an injection free life as insulin will be pumped from a cartridge into her body via a thin plastic tube and a fine needle under her skin.

She said: “I was jumping around like they do in High School Musical when my dad told me he’d got an email saying we’d got the funding, then last week we got a letter saying the pump had arrived.

“I really wanted it because it will give me more freedom. With the insulin pen I had to inject four to five times a day, but with the pump I won’t have to worry about that.

“I have a little holder with a side strap to put the pump in during the day and a toy pouch for it to go in at night which I can either cuddle like a toy or put under my pillow – and if I lie on the line too hard and it stops the insulin from being pumped out it bleeps and vibrates to wake me up.”

The Fulston Manor pupil is one of only a handful of people in Swale to be fitted with the device but it was a twist of fate which led to Grace agreeing to her consultant’s suggestion that he put her case forward to the PCT to consider funding for the device.

She said: “There’s a girl at my school who has an insulin pump. One day when I was at school I felt unwell and she showed it to me and recommended it.

“It’s fitted to me 24 hours a day but I can take it off to put my clothes on and shower and I can disconnect it for up to an hour so I can still do things like swimming.”

Amanda Barnard, NHS Eastern and Coastal Kent’s Lead Commissioner for Diabetes, Respiratory, Renal and Urology, said: “This pump gives patients a level of insulin based on their blood sugar levels throughout the day and dramatically improves their quality of life by eliminating the peaks and troughs of their condition and the need for injections.

“In Swale, there are only a handful of patients who have this pump and a total of 46 across eastern and coastal Kent.

“Each pump costs around £3,000 and a further £3,000 to £4,000 a year for consumables to maintain them.”

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a common life-long condition where the amount of glucose in the blood is too high as the body cannot use it properly. This is because the pancreas does not produce any or not enough insulin or the insulin that is produced doesn’t work properly (known as insulin resistance).

Insulin helps glucose enter the body’s cells, where it is used for energy. Glucose comes from digesting carbohydrate from various kinds of food and drink, including starchy foods such as breads, rice and potatoes, fruit, some dairy products, sugar and other sweet foods. Glucose is also produced by the liver.

Types of diabetes

• Type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes develops when the insulin-producing cells have been destroyed and the body is unable to produce any insulin. Usually it appears before the age of 40, and especially in childhood. It is treated with insulin either by injection or pump, a healthy diet and regular physical activity.

• Type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes develops when the body doesn’t produce enough insulin or the insulin that is produced doesn’t work properly. Usually it appears in people aged over 40, though in South Asian and Black people it can appear from the age of 25. It is becoming more common in children and young people of all ethnicities. It is treated with a healthy diet and regular physical activity, but medication and/or insulin is often required.

Symptoms of undiagnosed diabetes

The main symptoms of undiagnosed diabetes include passing urine frequently (especially at night), increased thirst, extreme tiredness, unexplained weight loss, genital itching or regular episodes of thrush, slow healing of wounds and blurred vision.

(Source: Diabetes UK)