Latoya wants others get tested for Diabetes since mum’s passing Loop Barbados

Black Immigrant Daily News

Latoya Scott has always loved to walk for fun, but when her mum died in 2015 that put even more pep in her step to keep on her fitness path.

Loop spotted Latoya’s big smile first and her infectious personality made the interview a breeze as she stood on the sidelines waiting for the first-ever Diabetes Awareness Walk by the Lions Club of St Michael to move off from the YMPC grounds in Beckles Road.

Asked why she chose to walk, Latoya said, “I’m here walking in respective to my mom…she passed away.”

The mother of one 20-year-old daughter said that her mother’s death was very sudden. She was a diabetic and “it went from one little scrape on her foot to an amputation and gone”. She said it felt surreal at the time. Her mum was 65 years old when she passed on March 25, 2015.

Since her mum’s untimely death and seeing the impact of Diabetes first-hand, Latoya said that catapulted her to get tested and she found out that she is pre-diabetic. Despite being active and signing up for any and every 5K walk over the years, she didn’t know her status until 2015.

Now, Latoya is encouraging everyone to know their status and their blood sugar numbers as it pertains to Diabetes. She said, “I lost my mum to it” and she insisted that she wants anyone who could avoid being in her same situation or similar, to take care of themselves and loved ones. She told adults, especially parents and guardians, to get themselves and their children tested. “Go and get checked on a rapid to see where the blood glucose is at, the level it’s at, if it’s there [diabetic], on the border or if it’s going there, cause it’s real important.”

Latoya also walked to support her walking partner and friend Lion Deidre Wood, whose Lions Club of St Michael orchestrated the 2022 Walk on November 13.

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