Brooke Drabsch

I'm walking for a world without type 1 diabetes in Illawarra!

? This March, I’m joining the world’s largest Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) fundraising event for families at Reddall Reserve.

I’m walking for someone incredibly special — my daughter Winter, who was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes in August 2025.

Type 1 Diabetes is a serious autoimmune disease where the immune system attacks the cells in the pancreas that make insulin — the hormone the body needs to turn food into energy. Without insulin, blood sugar levels can become dangerously high or dangerously low. There is currently no cure, and management requires constant attention, day and night.

For Winter, this looks like checking her blood sugars multiple times a day, giving insulin, counting carbs, changing pump sites, replacing CGM sensors, planning meals and activities carefully, and being monitored overnight while she sleeps. She has to think about every snack, every bite, every activity — things most kids never have to worry about. It’s a lot for a little girl, yet she faces it with incredible courage every day.

T1D can strike anyone at any time, and 8 Australians are diagnosed every day. A diagnosis means a 24/7 condition with no breaks, and an estimated extra 180 health-related decisions every single day just to stay safe.

That’s why I’m walking — to help raise $1.1 million for life-changing research, better treatments, improved technology, and ultimately to help turn Type 1 into Type NONE.

Breakthrough T1D has already been such a lifeline for our family, providing education, resources, and support as we’ve learned to navigate life with Winter’s diagnosis. I want other families to have access to that same support too.

If you’re able to donate or even share our page, it truly means the world to us ?