Success Story - Chris Davis “It’s a wonderful place to be – where I am now”

Chris Davis made a decision to change her lifestyle last year and hasn’t looked back since.

Chris completed the 7km Round the Bays walk in Wellington earlier this year, and has also completed two 10km walks since then.

Not bad for a woman who could hardly walk to her letterbox in October last year. Chris hasn’t seen her doctor since November and hasn’t been in hospital for six months – she was usually admitted for a week every month.

She is now completely off all diabetic medication and has been discharged from diabetes services. Gone are the 10 units of insulin a day. She is feeling great.

“It’s definitely the lifestyle changes that have helped,” Chris says. “Not only have I come off my diabetes medication completely, but my mental health has also improved enormously. For the first time in eight years I feel really happy.”

Chris received a Green Prescription (GRx) from her doctor in September last year and was invited to join a 10-week group exercise programme run by the Green Prescription team at Sport Wellington Region.

“For years I had been nervous about joining social groups and found it really hard to stick with something,” says Chris. “But I knew the Green Prescription exercise programme was just for 10 weeks and I was determined to finish it.”

The first day was tough for Chris and almost put her off, but she persevered.

“The second session was wonderful and it just grew from there,” Chris recalls.

Chris is working as a volunteer at Hutt Hospital meeting and greeting people, and a member of the Wellington Diabetes Advisory Board as diabetes representative.

“My life has changed in every way. It’s like a new world,” says Chris. “I am doing aqua aerobics three times a week, walking the dog often and I have continued with the GRx programme.”

She said her kids are over the moon and her grandkids are loving the changes. She has reconnected with old friends and is keen to return to work soon. Chris says, “It’s a wonderful place to be – where I am now.”