‘It's Possible To Live A Happy, Healthy Life With Diabetes If You Manage It'

When wordsmith and strategist Bridget McNulty discovered she had diabetes, she devoted herself to revolutionising support for South Africa’s 4.5 million people with the condition.

- Glynis Horning

AT 25, Bridget McNulty had just moved from her hometown of Durban to Cape Town to start her first job, as features writer at Real Simple magazine. After four years spent studying creative writing in the US on a scholarship at liberal arts college Franklin & Marshall, she’d written a magical realism novel (Strange Nervous Laughter) while working at Durban’s Bayside Gallery, and had it published. Her future was at her feet.

Once in Cape Town, however, she suddenly began losing weight rapidly: ‘I wasn’t trying, I wasn’t even exercising. I thought yay, the universe likes me! I was very thin, very thirsty and very hungry – for my birthday dinner I had a burger and chips, then got home and made two slices of toast. I was also constantly tired, but so were the women I worked with, mostly moms with young kids, so I wasn’t worried. Until one day I was so exhausted, I started swaying on my feet. I knew something wasn’t right.’

Far from home, Bridget found a new doctor. He listened to her symptoms and cheerfully informed her she was eating too healthily, and should relax and have a pizza. ‘It was only when I asked if my symptoms weren’t signs of diabetes that he did a test. My blood sugar was 26! It should be under 7 – anything over 10 suggests diabetes and over 20 is dangerous.’

The doctor should have sent Bridget to hospital in an ambulance. Instead he told her to return on Monday for more tests. ‘I rode my scooter back to my flat, though my brain was foggy – another classic diabetes symptom.’