FRIEND’S FOREVER PEER GROUP MEET JULY 2023

The monthly meeting of Friends Forever Type 1 Diabetes Support Group as conducted on Saturday,1.7.2023. The Guest of Honour for this month’s program was Mr. Thirukumaran, who has been nominated as one of the of the top 20 HR influencers by the Economic Times. He was also featured in the prestigious Top 20 Global Influencers list of Future of Work: Influential, representing all Asian countries. He is on a mission to create awareness and impress upon the government to include Type 1 Diabetes under the Disability Act, which would ensure that children with Type 1 Diabetes are given the rights they need to live their lives and that employees are protected from discrimination and provided with reasonable accommodation.

Mr.Thirukumaranwas born into a lower-middle-class family. He was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 16. It was a huge challenge for him to take insulin and store it in the school. But fortunately, he had the support of his school friends and his teachers. They helped him store his insulin at the school laboratory; he could go and take insulin at the proper times, and extra attention was given to him whenever he fell sick. He had to take leave multiple times in a month due to his health; the classes he missed were given to him separately by his teachers.

He completed his schooling with excellent grades and joined a college near Trichy. There also, he got immense support from his teachers. He ranked first in his university, making all his teachers proud.

His difficulties started when he relocated to Chennai, searching for a job. He was rejected by multiple companies because of his health condition. They thought people with type 1 diabetes weren’t fit for their job. He didn’t wait for opportunities to bang on his door; instead, he went to the doorsteps of different companies with his resume. He had no money in hand and found it difficult to afford his insulin. He had to skip transport and walk a longer distance in order to save money for insulin. Finally, he got a job in a BPO company where he had to continuously do a night shift, but he did this job to save money for pursuing his career.

After 1 year, he wanted to improve his career, so he joined a college for his masters. He decided that he would pursue a master’s degree in a subject where he has the authority to interview and evaluate people. So he completed Masters in Business Administration in Human Resources.

Before he even joined the course, he met his head of department and spoke about his ailment; to his pleasant surprise, he received massive support from the whole department.

Now, after his studies, he was able to join a well-known company on the strength of his exceptional academic record. But challenges did not end in his life. Like any person with diabetes, he faced challenges in his marriage alliances. He was always vocal about his condition; he didn’t even shy away here. On his matrimonial site, he listed his condition, and he was rejected multiple times. He finally found a girl who had completed law school, and she was ready to marry him and somehow convinced her family regarding the same.

His story was really inspiring; everyone was overwhelmed by it. His real-life story made every single child understand that nothing is impossible in life despite having type 1 diabetes. The children and parents understood that obstacles do come in life, but how a person overcomes is what really matters…

It is always a real challenge to teach and understand school authorities regarding type 1 diabetes; thus, training the children above 10 years on the importance of insulin, hypo-, and hyper-glycemia management is very important. We had a detailed discussion regarding the same.

We also discussed the kit that needs to be carried at school, which includes

1. Insulin
2. Glucose meter
3. Candies
4. Hypoglycemia ID card