Sara Crowley, Plaid Cymru MS for Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr, has become the first person elected to the Senedd while living with Type 1 diabetes. Writing for World Diabetes Day, she reflects on 36 years with the condition, including a coma at 16, sight loss in her twenties, and a battle with bulimia.
A lifelong condition and a new role
Crowley was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of three. She has spent almost a decade working in diabetes care, using her personal and professional experience to improve services, particularly for young adults. Now, for the first time, she marks Diabetes Awareness Month as a Member of the Senedd.
She says the condition has taught her to think ahead, weigh up risk and adapt when plans change. These lessons, she believes, have shaped her approach to leadership. She also credits diabetes with teaching her to find her voice, first to advocate for herself and later for others.
Facing life-threatening complications
Crowley describes being told as a teenager that she could be dead by 30 if she did not look after herself. At 16, she came close to losing her life, waking up in intensive care after being in a coma. In her twenties, she developed a vitreous haemorrhage and stage 4 retinopathy, losing the sight in her right eye for 18 months.
Behind some of these events was a struggle she rarely discussed: bulimia and disordered eating alongside Type 1 diabetes. She eventually recovered, but without professional support, as there was little recognition at the time of the complex relationship between diabetes, food, insulin and body image.
Lived experience in decision-making
Crowley argues that people with lived experience belong in the rooms where decisions are made. She says that while healthcare relies on data and evidence, services can miss the gap between what was intended and what is actually happening unless they listen to those living with the consequences.
She also reflects on standing for election, which she describes as a risk where the outcome was out of her hands. She found the experience freeing, and says she did not expect to be elected on her first attempt.
Now in the Senedd, she says she does not feel she has to hide her hypos or pretend to be fine on difficult days. She notes that there are now Jelly Babies living in the Senedd Chamber. Crowley hopes she will not hold the distinction of being the first Senedd member with Type 1 diabetes for very long, so that others with long-term conditions see that they belong too.
