Moray parents that lost their daughter following a 20-year fight against diabetes that left her blind are urging more warnings to be released about the condition.
Laura Buchan collapsed and fell into a coma at the age of 35 after “losing everything” to the condition that blighted her adult life.
For two decades the easy-going former hotel manageress in Keith was unknowingly damaging her body.
The effects would result in her spending several spells in hospital in Aberdeen due to repeated bouts of sickness as her body struggled to function.
Now her parents Lorna and Bryan are pleading for greater awareness of type-one diabetes so other youngsters do not suffer the same fate.
Mr Buchan, 60, said: “She lost her job, she lost her car, she lost her beautiful home that she loved because she couldn’t stay on her own anymore. She lost everything to diabetes.
“It was never explained to her the damage that could be done.”
Miss Buchan died in January just weeks after returning from a holiday cruise from New York through the Caribbean.
The strong-willed woman, who could not get medical insurance, defied the wishes of her father to go on the trip after he feared what may happen if she fell ill.
Miss Buchan, who grew up in Huntly, was diagnosed with type-one diabetes when she was just 11 years old.
As an active child that won countless highland dancing trophies and rode horses her parents never suspected she was at risk of becoming diabetic.
After coming to terms with injecting herself with insulin up to four times a day she began to find blood sugar levels that worked for her once she left school.
Mrs Buchan, 58, said: “Laura had a funny metabolism. What worked for other diabetics didn’t seem to work for her the same.
“She got tired easily and got used to running her blood sugar level higher to cope and once she got used to it she couldn’t come back down.
“By the time they explained it to her the damage she was doing it was too late, the damage was done.”
About six years ago Miss Buchan was rushed in for an emergency operation after bleeds on the back of her eyes due to the pressure of her blood. Despite laser surgery doctors were only able to save the vision in half of her left eye.
Mrs Buchan added: “She always said ‘I wished they explained it more to me.’
“I tried to get some young people together to form a group of diabetics because she was really panicking about going completely blind.”
The last two years of her life were blighted with bouts of sickness due to nerve damage in her stomach, known as autonomic neuropathy.
Laura would spend up to a week in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary every six months as her body struggled to cope.
The condition had a double impact as she was not able to eat any food to correct her blood sugar levels.
Family and friends raised more than £1,000 for Diabetes UK and North East Sensory Services, two causes that supported her, at her funeral this month.
Mr Buchan has now urged young people suffering from type-one diabetes to heed warnings to ensure they live longer than his daughter.
He said: “The lack of information out there is a problem. Young people are very hard to convince they are doing harm to their body.
“It really needs to be emphasised to them. I don’t think that happened at all with Laura.”
He added: “Type-two diabetes can come from being unhealthy but type-one is totally different – it can affect anyone.”
