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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2011
‘Cowardly theft’ almost killed her Theft of young girl’s insulin pump causes Surrey family ‘grief beyond imagination’
❚PHOTO/Ted Colley
Chiara de Maere holds up a loaner insulin pump, identical to the one that was stolen from her at a local pool. She and her family hope someone will recognize the $7,000 pump and return it.
❚YOUR LETTERS
MP Nina Grewall fires back after ‘cheap shot’ editorial
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Plus, other readers weigh in on issue, page 15 TUESDAY, FEBR
‘Nina, you got
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s, now please
UARY 15, 2011
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A ‘NOW’ EDITO RIAL
TURN DOWN THE N ONSENSE
OUR VIEW: For
get crime or the
economy – Surrey
Oops, didn’t mean you, boss ! Maybe Flee didn’t see who twood-Port Kells was on the TV MP Nina Grew when she plug al ged her ears for this photo.
MUSIC/“I was
screaming like a kid
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MP seems to thin
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k our real enemy
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is loud TV ads.
Page 3
Grewal has intro duced a bill in "PHOTO/Ted ent with prog Ottawa to mak Colley ram loudness e commercial . What do we sound consistthink? See page 3.
Surrey producer sh ares Grammy win w ith Eminem Tom ZILLICH
Staff Reporter
last night and , oh man, it’s
night before. “It’
amazing”
ee what damage a selfTom ZYTARUK ish act can do. As far Staff Reporter as disturbing goes, this particular case has to rate at least a nine out of 10. A thief has wreaked havoc on a diabetic Surrey girl and her family since stealing the child’s $7,000 insulin pump from the women’s changing room of the Surrey Sport and Leisure Complex in Fleetwood on Feb. 10. “It’s a cowardly theft,” Surrey RCMP Cpl. Drew Grainger said. “Some cowardly person, whether they know it or not, has jeopardized this person’s health.” Chiara de Maere, 10, of Fraser Heights was sent into a tailspin along with her mom and dad when the small blue device, which resembles a computer game gizmo, was taken. “This is a silly, useless act that has no benefit to anyone and has caused us grief beyond imagination,” said her dad, John. She’s since had to miss some school. “We had no way of regulating her blood sugars,” her mom Kelly said. She also ended up being rushed to an emergency ward after her blood sugar went off the map, putting her at risk of suffering seizures and even falling into a coma. Her parents relied on the pump, but with it suddenly gone, were in a panic to re-learn how to treat Chiara without it. Between the Thursday and Saturday, the girl required a barrage of needles. Her parents hadn’t done this in three years, and her mom ended up injecting her with the wrong insulin
“I couldn’t remember what I’m supposed to do,” Kelly said, clearly traumatized. She mixed up her insulin vials by mistake and gave her daughter 15 units instead of three. “I made a mistake in the morning, and she ended up in emergency. “The doctors at Children’s were absolutely shocked,” she added. “They’d never heard of anybody stealing an insulin pump before.” The company that made the pump has since rushed a loaner to them by airplane from Mississauga, Ont., but they can only keep it for 90 days before they have to buy another. Despite the panic, stress and fear they’ve endured, John said, the theft will also cost them roughly $8,000 all told. Chiara has Type 1, or Juvenile Diabetes, a lifethreatening autoimmune disease that destroys insulin-producing cells in her pancreas. Her pump administers the insulin she needs on the hour. She got it three years ago, after her parents underwent intensive training on how to use it. Without the pump, which enables her to lead a relatively normal albeit structured life, Chiara faces a flurry of needles to keep her alive. According to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Canada, for which Chiara volunteers as a youth ambassador, that works out to 1,460 needles and 2,190 finger pokes per year. Chiara was diagnosed with the disease at age 6. “It was kind of scary,” she recalled. “All I remember is people waking me up in the middle of night, poking me with needles.”
see FAMILY PLEADS page 3