Victor Garber has not let Type 1 Diabetes slow him down: “You can achieve what you want to achieve”
When he was just 12 years old, out actor Victor Garber was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes.
The condition was previously known as juvenile diabetes and only 5% of people with diabetes have this form of the disease.
Now 66, Garber is speaking out to rise awareness about the incurable auto-immune disease which has also impacted such fellow celebrities as Nick Jonas and Mary Tyler Moore.
He is now working with a charity Jonas co-founded called Beyond Type 1 to educate people about the differences from the far more common Type 2 diabetes.
‘I’m just a face for young people to say, “You’re not alone and you can achieve what you want to achieve,”‘ Garber tells People.com.
Although the disease can cause serious health complications because the body does not produce insulin, Garber has for more than 40 years worked steadily in films (Godspell, Titanic, Argo), on television (Alias, Eli Stone) and on the Broadway stage (Assassins, Damn Yankees).
‘That’s really what I feel very strongly about, you are not defined by Type 1 diabetes,’ he says.
Garber recently married longtime partner Rainer Andreesen in Canada.
Comments
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K. Martinez says:
Having diabetes sucks! I still have problems maintaining my blood sugar level on the lower end. When it gets to the 50-60 range it’s scary.
FAEN says:
@K Martinez-Yeah diabetes sucks. Thankfully my partner has gotten it under control and his blood sugar numbers have been great so far. It took a change in diet and exercise but he’s feeling better than ever. Keep your chin up man.
K. Martinez says:
@FAEN-thanks! Also glad to hear your partner has it under control.
FAEN says:
@K.Martinez-No worries man