SASKATOON – Andrew McWiggan was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was 16-years-old.
The disease didn’t keep him on the sidelines for long, as McWiggan was named the MVP at a national volleyball event shortly thereafter in his home country of Australia. He’s been playing the sport ever since.
McWiggan just completed his second season with the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s volleyball team.
He say’s living with diabetes while competing at a high athletic level, no doubt has its challenges.
“Playing volleyball, you are in a five set match going for two hours, I may need to get off on the sideline to do a blood test or have some sugar if my sugars are low. So yeah, there is a bit of compromise there,” said McWiggan.
With a cause close to his heart, McWiggan is helping promote this year’s Telus Walk to Cure Diabetes on June 9th in Saskatoon, with a fundraising goal of $69,000.
“Eighty cents of every dollar goes directly to finding a cure” says McWiggan “Of that, they try to develop ways that diabetics can live an easier life, better management, that comes through technology and that comes through research”.
McWiggan’s father and sister also have type 1 diabetes, so he has a deep understanding of the disease.
“I’ve spent a fair amount of time in and out of hospitals for checkups, and you see the two and three year old kids that have it and you just think, how is this going to affect their quality of life? You get parents that have no idea about diabetic education and have a two year old child they they’re trying to help manage and understand and help develop their knowledge of how to handle it.”
His goal is raising awareness in a younger generation.
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