Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull may have been the star turn at Marsden Park on Sunday afternoon, but the local hero of the hour was MP Russell Matheson.
With the Campbelltown public and private hospitals as a backdrop, Mr Turnbull and health minister Sussan Ley dropped in to announce very good news for Type 1 diabetes sufferers of Macarthur and across Australia.
A life saving device known as Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM) and normally costing around $5,000 would now be offered free to anyone who needs it.
And as the Prime Minister and Ms Ley made clear at Marsden Park to representatives of the national media, Russell Matheson, the federal member for Macarthur, had played a substantial role in the decision to spend $54 million to subside CGMs.
The local little boy who suffers from Type 1 juvenile diabetes, Will Cullen, and whose story Mr Matheson told in Parliament last week, was there in Marsden Park to thank Mr Matheson, the Prime Minister and Ms Ley.
“I’d like to say to Russell thank you for making a push for diabetes to help us,’’ the shy 11 year old youngster from Campbelltown told the Voice in Macarthur.
Mr Matheson had told parliament on May 8: “Continuous glucose monitoring, or CGM, as it is known, is a critical piece of technology because it sets off an alarm, warning Will Cullen either that his blood sugar levels are either dangerously low, avoiding loss of consciousness, seizure or even death, or that his blood sugars are extremely high, which can lead to long-term complications such as blindness, kidney failure, amputations, heart disease and stroke.’’
At Marsden Park yesterday, another young diabetes sufferer to talk to the Voice to express her gratitude to Mr Matheson was Kirilly White, of Camden.
“This is a lifesaver for us,’’ Ms White said.
The young Camden resident has had diabetes for almost six years, but more crucially, she is hypo-unaware.
Hypo-unawareness is a term describing those people with diabetes who may not recognise the symptoms of low blood sugar, including feeling weak or tingling in the mouth or fingers, or who may have different symptoms than those usually experienced.
“I can’t feel when my sugars are low, so the CGM will alert me when I’m low so I will be able to treat it quicker, and also I can sleep at night knowing my sugars will be OK,’’ Ms White said.
“I only wear a CGM occasionally at the moment because they are very expensive, so we want to say thank you to our local member, Russell Matheson, for helping to get these CGMs available to anyone who needs it.
“Thank you, Russell, for doing all your advocacy work and helping us get this CGM funding; without the push from him, it wouldn’t have happened.’’
Earlier the Prime Minister told the media that “Russell is a great advocate on behalf of more than 100 local families who can use a CGM.
“Young Will [Cullen], whose family lives here in Macarthur, is able to go to sleepovers now with all his friends, and Mum Melanie doesn’t have to stay up late at night fretting about his sugar levels,’’ Mr Turnbull said.
“We estimate 4,000 young people up to 20 years of age will be taking advantage of this.
“I want to congratulate Russell for his advocacy and [health minister] Sussan Ley for her leadership on this issue.’’
Ms Ley said: “I get a lot of letters, but I get more letters about CGM for type 1 diabetes than any other subject.
“And Russell is pretty close to the top of the list, so thank you for pushing so hard.’’
The hero of the hour, Russell Matheson, gets the last word on this wonderful election story:
“This is a really great decision and I am just glad I played a part in helping all of the people in Macarthur with diabetes who will benefit from CGM,’’ Mr Matheson said.
