My story
Anthony lived with diabetes for 47 years and dedicated himself to controlling his blood sugar and staying fit and healthy. This included running his final half-marathon aged 80 along with over 60 other type 1 diabetics. He was interviewed complaining about running his "personal worst" during the race showing typical disregard for his age. In his 50s he ran a sub 3-hour London Marathon to show that Type 1 Diabetes is no barrier to sport. He was told he had to stop exercising last year because he needed a heart operation, so he reduced his exercise routine down to "just" 50 press ups a day, this aged 86.
He was so matter of fact about getting injured - even in his 80s, he would frequently come back from a run with cuts and bruises from tripping over tree roots, but he was in such great shape that he somehow never seemed to hurt himself that badly and would always shrug it off, reassuring his grand-children when they saw cuts on his face that he had been practising his perfect 5-point landing (knees, hands and face). He was annoyed the few times recently when he had to give in to using a golf buggy instead of walking and carrying his clubs. It was awful watching him shrink in hospital whilst they tried unsuccessfully for weeks to stabilise his blood sugar so that he could come home. His extreme focus on looking after himself and the impressive way he managed his diabetes certainly helped him stay strong in his later years, and we always hoped he would not suffer a long and lingering decline, as he is not the sort of person who would have been happy sitting around doing nothing for the rest of his life. He spent his last 10 days in Moreton Hill Care Centre which was a much calmer environment than hospital and his family were with him for his last days.
Anthony's funeral will be held at Gloucester Crematorium 31/01/25 2.30pm.
He requested in his will that in lieu of flowers at his funeral he would like donations to be made to Diabetes UK which is a charity he supported for many years so we have set up this page in case anyone would like to make a donation.
With all our love for an active life well-lived from,
Liz, James, Roz, Perry, Tammy, Lyra, Dylan, Lottie, Jago
He was so matter of fact about getting injured - even in his 80s, he would frequently come back from a run with cuts and bruises from tripping over tree roots, but he was in such great shape that he somehow never seemed to hurt himself that badly and would always shrug it off, reassuring his grand-children when they saw cuts on his face that he had been practising his perfect 5-point landing (knees, hands and face). He was annoyed the few times recently when he had to give in to using a golf buggy instead of walking and carrying his clubs. It was awful watching him shrink in hospital whilst they tried unsuccessfully for weeks to stabilise his blood sugar so that he could come home. His extreme focus on looking after himself and the impressive way he managed his diabetes certainly helped him stay strong in his later years, and we always hoped he would not suffer a long and lingering decline, as he is not the sort of person who would have been happy sitting around doing nothing for the rest of his life. He spent his last 10 days in Moreton Hill Care Centre which was a much calmer environment than hospital and his family were with him for his last days.
Anthony's funeral will be held at Gloucester Crematorium 31/01/25 2.30pm.
He requested in his will that in lieu of flowers at his funeral he would like donations to be made to Diabetes UK which is a charity he supported for many years so we have set up this page in case anyone would like to make a donation.
With all our love for an active life well-lived from,
Liz, James, Roz, Perry, Tammy, Lyra, Dylan, Lottie, Jago