Trainers on tarmac to tackle Type 1 diabetes

Published On Thu 30 Mar 2017 by Dominic Younger

University of Dundee dental student Rebecca Morris will take on one of the top international marathons next month when she runs in memory of childhood friend who lost their life as a result of Type 1 diabetes.

The 21-year-old from Kirriemuir will be putting trainers to tarmac in this year's London Marathon to raise money for research into the disease.

Rebecca will run in memory of Claire Taylor, who passed away at the age of 17 from undiagnosed Type 1 diabetes, a disease which is thought to affect 80,000 children across the world each year. Currently there is no way of preventing childhood diabetes in childhood.

Rebecca, who began running at the age of 12 years-old, qualified for London last year when she smashed her personal best in the 2016 Edinburgh Marathon with a time of three hours and 20 minutes.

She said, “I’m so excited to run in this years’ marathon for Claire. She was one of my best friends, we went through nursery and school together and her passing left a hole in all of our hearts.

“I miss Claire’s passion and love for life and because of this, I wanted to try and raise money for Type 1 diabetes awareness – so that tragedies like this can be prevented in the future.”

Rebecca has set up a justgiving page to fundraise for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, who dedicate their work to fund research to find a cure for Type 1 diabetes.

To donate to Rebecca’s marathon effort visit her justgiving page - http://www.justgiving.com/Rebecca-Morris21?utm_id=26   

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Dominic Glasgow
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Email: d.w.glasgow@dundee.ac.uk