Stabilising diabetics was a tough process and understanding and awareness was limited.

Mr Eaton says he had a lucky start. His doctor in the country town of Milton, on New South Wales’ southern coast, recognised the classic warning signs of insatiable thirst and fatigue. 

Aged seven, he spent six months in the Sydney Children’s Hospital learning to adapt to his condition.

Mr Eaton is set to receive Diabetes Australia’s Kellion Victory Medal for surviving the past 70 years with type 1 diabetes. The Ballarat retiree is also an ambassador for a new campaign promoting a long, healthy life.

He has never let diabetes rule his life. He simply lived with it.

“I have a lot of good memories, getting married, travelling,” Mr Eaton said.

“...I still have to be careful. Nowadays you don’t have to be as strict as you used to be.”

Mr Eaton, aged 77, maintains a clean bill of health. His only major side affect was the need for a quadruple by-pass because, while his heart is strong, his arteries had deteriorated from living with diabetes so long.

His survival method is all about exercise, good food and discipline. When the weather is kind, you will find Mr Eaton playing golf but in the Ballarat winter he tends to opt for the gym and walking the lake with his wife, who he says has been his long-time supporter and who keeps him on track.

So much has changed in managing diabetes since Mr Eaton was first diagnosed. Needles were blunt back then and monitoring urine levels involved urine testing on Bunsen burners – a method Mr Eaton said was unreliable and nothing like modern blood testing.

“The biggest feature change has been the insulin pump,” Mr Eaton said. “I got one nearly 13 year ago and it’s been one of the best things. You just have the one type of insulin all the time.”

Diabetes Victoria’s ‘We’re here to help you’ campaign is promoting Mr Eaton as an example of ensuring diabetes does not stop people living a full and active life. The digital awareness campaign launch will coincide with National Diabetes Week, from Sunday.

More than five per cent of Victorians are living with diabetes and the state body has found an increasing need to provide expert advice, resources and support programs. Diabetes is the fastest growing chronic condition in Australia.

“I encourage people to look at what they’re doing and not be silly about their health,” Mr Eaton said. “Otherwise, you could end up with problems in your kidneys, liver and eyes.”