Montreal woman stands out in mission to raise awareness for diabetes

Just over a century ago, the first injection of insulin was administered in Toronto.

Now Leanne Souquet is marking that anniversary while drawing attention to Type 1 diabetes by living for 100 hours inside a two-square-metre structure on top of a 12-metre pole erected between Central Station and the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Both she and her daughter live with the disease.

“It’s tough, just as an individual,” she told Global News from the platform, “but when your child gets the diagnosis, especially at a young age, it’s just completely devastating.”

She’s helping the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) to raise $100 million to help make Canadian history again — this time by finding a cure for diabetes. Souket is one of five people across the country who are living in similar structures.

“There are two flag poles in Toronto, one in Calgary and one in Vancouver,” she said.

According to the foundation, there are about 300,000 people in Canada living with Type 1 diabetes and 70,000 are in Quebec.

“Type 1 diabetes is not related to you not exercising or you not eating properly,” Kim Lacombe, JDRF central and eastern Canada executive director, explained. “It’s your immune system that attacks your body and so that’s why you’re not producing insulin.”

It’s not yet preventable.

Lacombe says most people with it are diagnosed between ages five and eight, just like Souquet’s daughter, whose father says he didn’t believe it at first.

“We learned at 3 a.m. when she was five years sold,” he recalled. “I remember being at the (Montreal Children’s Hospital) and they tell you she has diabetes.”

He said it means rigorous, round-the-clock monitoring both for Souquet and their daughter. The parents pointed out, however, that their child has managed to be very active.

“She was a hockey player, played soccer, now she does horseback riding,” Souquet smiled.

Their message for parents with kids who have Type 1 diabetes: “Get help. You’re not alone.”