An Aberdeenshire mum has urged thieves to return her daughter’s diabetes equipment after it was stolen from a school playing field.
Karen Paterson, 32, has spoken of her anger after her daughter Ellouise had her
diabetic scanner stolen while she took part in a running club.
The scanner helps monitor blood sugar levels, meaning the seven-year-old, who suffers from type 1 diabetes, does not have to take a blood sample.
The scanner – which looks like a mobile phone – was taken from Meldrum Academy’s playing fields during a training session with Oldmeldrum Young Runners Club.
Police are investigating the theft.
Ms Paterson, from Auchterless, said: “On Friday, my son, Daniel, five, goes to the Meldrum Young runners out in the field of the academy.
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“As Ellouise is type 1 diabetic, she has this case, it is like a pencil case with all her stuff for checking her blood sugar.
“She had left it at the side of the playing field so it was in easy reach if she needed it and the teacher also knew it was there.
“When they are doing the running they are all over the place, and it wasn’t until I had picked her up that both sides of the case were open.
“I originally thought her blood sugars had been low and I asked her if she was feeling okay and she said she was fine.
“It was then that we realised she’d lost the scanner, Ellouise hadn’t opened it, so I checked to see if there was anything else missing.
“The equipment lets Ellouise play outside and lets us check her blood sugar levels quickly.
“We want her to be as normal as she can be, she wasn’t happy when she found it had gone.”
The scanner connects to a sensor on Ellouise’s arm and detects her blood sugar levels, and would be useless to anyone but her daughter.
She said: “I think it could have been mistaken for a small phone. It is small, black with a big screen and has one big button.“
“We do hope we can get it back.”
Police confirmed they are investigating the theft from the sports field in the Colpy Road area of Oldmeldrum, which happened between 5.30pm and 6.30pm on June 7.
