Age: 23 Year Diagnosed: 2004 Current Location: Paris, France
“By the time I was in high school I did not tell anyone about my diabetes. Once, in class, the teacher ask for me to go write something on the blackboard. When I came back to my seat, I saw my friend playing with my insulin pen and shouting “What the hell is this pen?! it smells and looks really weird!”. I was so embarrassed, he could not figure out what he had found in my purse. Now, we laugh about that situation a lot.
People tend to think our community deserves what they have due to a "bad lifestyle", if only they would know how much we fight to preserve our health.. That is precisely the reason why I started my Instagram @cocoandpodie. I wanted to break all the clichés and show that diabetes means needles, insulin, pump and so on. I wish I can also help and inspire other diabetics through the account because I wish someone had told me I could do anything in spite of having type one.
I have always been attracted to fashion and I will never let diabetes take that away from me. In fact, I integrated my diabetes into fashion with my Instagram account. I kind of copy traditional blogger and I put my freestyle, needle, insulin pump in the middle of an aesthetic environment. I love this mix between two universes which are normally opposed: the medical area meets art in @cocoandpodie.
My piece of advice is that: I swear your life is not over, it is only the beginning. It will be hard sometimes, you will have bad days but you will grow up with this sense of empathy, with this courage and energy that will drives you anywhere. Moreover, you enter in an amazing community with incredible people and they might be the best people you will ever meet in your life.”