David Morgan is tackling the seven marathons and the highest peaks on seven continents to raise money for Diabetes Australia. Read about his ascent of Africa's highest peak Mount Kilimanjaro with his son Will.

When Judith Daw experienced some blurriness in her eyes, she was a busy foster mum and carer who always put others needs before her own.

The 65-year-old retiree from Albany, who has been living with type two diabetes for about ten years, noticed the blurriness about three years ago. However, she put off having an eye test for another twelve months.

Trish was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1975, at the age of 17. In 1990, during a routine check-up with her doctor, he noticed some changes in her eyes and sent her to an eye specialist.

“I hadn’t noticed anything at all,” she said. “There were no symptoms. But the ophthalmologist said I had diabetic retinopathy.”

In 2008, Gayle, who has type 1 diabetes, was told by an eye specialist that she had macular degeneration, an age-related, degenerative eye disease. She had laser surgery on both eyes.

The following year she was driving an elderly friend into town. “I suddenly noticed the white line on the road wasn’t straight; it was bendy. That’s when I got scared,” Gayle said. “I pulled over and said to my friend, ‘Will you drive?’ When we got into town I walked straight into my doctor’s office, nervous as a kitten.”

Diabetes Australia continues to lead the way when it comes to raising awareness of the importance of emotional health for people with diabetes with Diabetes UK recently launching a new resource for healthcare professionals.

Diabetes Australia today issued a wakeup call about the diabetes epidemic which is overwhelming Australia’s hospitals after a new study found that people with diabetes accounted for around one-third of all hospitalisations.