Happy Birthday Fred. Yes it is November 14th, the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, one of the major forces in the discovery of insulin.
Thank you Fred for saving our children’s lives. Were it not for you, we would REALLY have a problem.
Here are some items you may not know about Sir Frederick Banting that you may find interesting.
He received the Nobel Prize in 1923 and was the youngest to ever receive the award in physiology/medicine.
He received the award in his 33rd year of life where he dedicated his life’s work to perfecting insulin to be distributed to the masses. (Thank you for that too Fred!)
He was married twice and had one child.
He loved to paint.
He was knighted in 1934.
He died in his 50th year on February 21, 1941, as a result of injuries received in a plane crash while in route to test aviation equipment. He worked with the Royal Canadian Air Force in testing equipment that would help pilots at high altitudes.
He was nominated as one of the top 10 Canadians who ever lived by a poll run by the Canadian Broadcast Corporation.
So I thought on this day, Diabetes Awareness Day that I would give you a little inside information on the man who saved the lives of our kids and all those who have diabetes. Thank you very much Dr. Banting for all you have done. You have saved millions of lives…….including my two children.
The picture above is well-known to Canadians and sits in Sir Frederick Banting Square in Ontario, Canada. It is the Flame of Hope, which was lit as a tribute to not only Frederick Banting but to all those who lost their lives to diabetes. It would seem that those who worked to preserve his name also knew that in as much as insulin is probably one of the greatest life saving medical advances ever discovered, it is still not a cure.
The wording on the plaque includes these words: “…..This flame will burn continuously and only be extinguished when it can be declared that a cure for diabetes has been found…..”
Amen! Thanks Dr. Banting.
I am a diabetesdad.
P.S. Hear a message from Dr. Camillo Ricordi of the DRI for this special day. Click here.
Information from Flame of Hope Committee, Wikipedia, Nobel Prize Foundation, Biography.com