November 14th, as World Diabetes Day, was not a random day. It’s the birthday of Dr. Frederick Banting. Dr. Banting was the lead scientist in the discovery of Insulin in 1921. The amount of lives that have been saved since that tome could probably never be counted. There is a movie floating around out there, ‘Glory Enough for All”. It was a TV movie in 1988 and if you go to you tube you can see many segments of the film which is a scenario surrounding Banting and Best’s work. With Doctor, or Sir, Frederick Banting’s birthday just two days away……I thought I would give you some facts about the man who saved so many…..facts that you may or may not know.
>He is Canadian and was born in Ontario.
>He was married twice and had one son, William (First one lasted 8 years—ended in divorce)
>He was actually killed in an air disaster on February 21—-he was only 49.
>He was a painter
>In 1923 the Canadian Parliament granted him a Life Annuity of $7,500 (according to dollar times.com that would be worth 103,424.11in today’s terms).
>He served in both WWI and WWII
>In 1923 he was elected to the Banting and Best Medical Chair (and here is what I love about this); which was endowed by the Legislature of the Province of Ontario.
>He was an M.D. and also a Lecturer in Pharmacology
>Best, with whom Banting did his work was a medical student at the time and, of course, would become Dr. Charles Best.
>interesting enough, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine he won was shared with J.J.R. Macleod who gave Banting the facilities for his work. Best received little recognition compared to these two but IT IS stated Dr. Banting shared his money from the award.
>He was Knighted in 1934
So now, perhaps—you know a little more of the man who saved my children, your children, and millions of others and is responsible for keeping them alive each day.
In his honor why not commit to doing just one thing on his birthday to help educate someone else about diabetes. Hang a poster, speak to someone, and/or do something that spreads the word about diabetes education. Education was a big part of
Dr. Banting’s life. Sharing education is the least we can do to pay homage to a man who has done so much for us, like saving the life of our loved ones……….don’t you think?
Happy Birthday Dr. Banting…………………………………….and THANK YOU!!!!
I am a diabetes dad.
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