Diabetes educator

HAVING devoted nearly her whole life to the awareness of and support for people with diabetes after it made an impact on her and her family early in life, Margaret ‘Peggy’ Kearin has been acknowledged for her efforts.

Ms Kearin has been awarded a Medal in the Order of Australia as part of the Australia Day honours list.

“My brother got diabetes when he was 13,” she said. “I helped him adjusting with it all and I was determined I was going to be a nurse.”

This would start what would be a lifelong relationship with the disease, including a diagnosis of her own later in life.

“We went to England and lived for a while and our daughter was born while we were there, and I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes,” she said. “But when she was born, it disappeared.

“But then when my son, our second child, was 13 months old and I was diagnosed with type one diabetes. I almost straightaway got in touch with diabetes Victoria, so that I could get information about it.”

This was the catalyst that led Ms Kearin to volunteer with the organisation.

“In 1967, I went down and had a discussion with the then CEO of diabetes Victoria,” she said.

“I was very concerned that there were so many people with diabetes and they had no way to get help or didn’t know what they needed to know.”

From here Ms Kearin was instrumental in forming the Bendigo diabetes support group which had a mailing list of over 200 people.

“The Bendigo support group was the very first support group outside of a capital city in Australia,” she said. “So, we were very proud of that.”

As the local group grew bigger, Diabetes Victoria made it an official branch, with Ms Kearin “always on the committee including a few times as president.”

In 1990, Diabetes Victoria, asked Ms Kearin to join the board, where she served until 2018, but she has no intention of giving up all her involvement.

“No, I’m not going to hang up the boots just yet,” she said. “I’m going to keep up with the Bendigo meetings I want to, and they are happy for me to do it.”