More Than My Diagnosis: Jaylen-Blaze
Jaylen-Blaze was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was two years old. At 16, he barely remembers a version of life without it.
"It's just always been part of my routine," he says. Diabetes has never held him back from anything he's wanted to do, from bungee jumping to skydiving. As his mum always told him growing up: "Kid first, diabetes second."
These days, Jaylen-Blaze is a busy teenager balancing school, part-time work, study through SIT, music, gaming, the gym, and time with friends. He describes himself as funny, stubborn in a good way, and someone who's always there when a mate needs him.
He's also turned an everyday frustration of living with type 1 into an invention gaining real attention, including interest from a healthcare facility and a local hospital. We'll be sharing more on that story soon.
Jaylen-Blaze is quick to bust a few myths. Type 1 diabetes isn't caused by eating sugar, and it isn't something that can be "fixed." It's something managed every day, for life.
"The most annoying thing people say is, 'can you eat that?'" he says. "Like… yes. I just have to manage it."
If he could speak to someone newly diagnosed, his advice is simple: "It feels scary at first, but you'll get used to it. You're not alone, and you can still live your life." And on the harder days, the advice that's stuck with him most is not to let a bad day make you feel like you're failing. Everyone has them.
For Jaylen-Blaze, a good day is a simple one, hanging out with his mates. What keeps him going is fourteen years of proof that he can handle whatever comes next.
"We are more than just a number," he says. It's a message he hopes reaches other young people living with diabetes: that you can still do everything you want to do.
Jaylen-Blaze's connection with Diabetes New Zealand has grown through his mum signing him up for summer camp, a music video, and interviews like this one. "It makes you feel part of something bigger," he says. "Like I'm helping someone I have never met."