Parents raise diabetes awareness after daughter stops taking medication and dies

By Kris Jepson

The parents of 20-year-old Natasha Horne, from Middlesbrough, want to raise awareness about the dangers of Type 1 diabetes after she stopped taking her medication, fell into a coma and died.

Natasha's parents, Stephen and Jackie Horne, told ITV News Tyne Tees they tried desperately to persuade their daughter to continue taking her medication, but had no legal control over her, because she was an adult.

Watch @krisjepson's report here:

They bought their daughter's medication for her, tried to educate her about the dangers of the condition, but Natasha "didn't do needles" and found it difficult to cope with the illness.

She eventually moved out of the family home and her parents could no longer ensure she was injecting the insulin.

Natasha's mum, Jackie, told ITV News she wants younger people living with the condition to learn from her daughter's story.

She said "please share with your friends. It's nothing to be embarrassed about, having diabetes and if we can just save one life, or one set of parents from having to sit with you guys today like we have, then she hasn't gone in vain."

More than £1,300 has been raised for Diabetes UK in memory of Natasha.

According to Diabetes UK, around 3.7 million people across the UK have been diagnosed with both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

Of those people, around 370,000 people or 10 per cent, have Type 1 diabetes.

In the North East and Yorkshire some 481,287 people are living with both types of diabetes and a suspected 48,129 people live with Type 1 diabetes.