Horsham school girl raises £2,000 for diabetes charity

Chloe Parrott, from Horsham, Millais School, who has raised more than £2,000 for charity after being diagnosed with diabetes (submitted). SUS-141230-103112001

Chloe Parrott, 12, who attends Millais School, completed a sponsored 5km walk from Worthing Pier to the Bluebird Cafe at Ferring dressed in a Christmas onesie with her mum Sarah on Saturday December 19.

She has raised more than £1,000 on her Just Giving page for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), a total which will be matched by the company her dad Simon works for.

The 100 days since her diagnosis represented a huge learning curve for Chloe in managing the challenges of daily life that most people take for granted.

While she described being ‘shocked and scared’ by her diagnosis, she has vowed not to let her life be ruled by diabetes. She hopes to continue to boost awareness of Type 1 diabetes and raise money for JDRF to fund research into a cure.

Chloe said: “Type 1 diabetes is not brought on by diet or lifestyle and has serious complications if it is unmanaged.

“Its symptoms, such as excessive thirst, tiredness, passing urine frequently, unexplained weight loss, blurred vision and tummy pains are often mistaken for other things, and so can dangerously go unnoticed.

“I was lucky that Mum and Dad acted so quickly and I won’t let Type 1 diabetes stop me from doing the same things as everyone else.

“JDRF do amazing work towards finding a cure and supporting people who have diabetes. I am so happy that my walk has raised so much money. I can’t believe that my £100 target on Just Giving has been more than ten times blown out the water. I’m so grateful to everyone who supported me and to everyone who donated. Thank you so much.”

For more information on JDRF visit their website.

To donate visit Chloe’s Just Giving page.