As we approach St Valentine’s Day, I am hoping for an empty vase. I shall be giving my husband an empty vase too. Because we two are so, so lucky. So lucky that when our baby was diagnosed with T1D, we never needed to fear not being able to afford the insulin that is her elixir of life. Just because we were born in a country that provides free & equitable health care for all.

Other Mummies & Daddies are not this lucky. The chance of their birth & that of their child’s means the cost of insulin is far out of their reach. And as insulin isn’t an optional choice for someone diagnosed with T1D, it’s a necessity, the only option they have is to watch their child fade away, until their last breath. And then all that is left is sorrow.

Flowers die. Children shouldn’t. Which is why…