Family of Aidan Sutherland to tell his story on BBC this weekend

Aidan Sutherland’s death in 2017, at age of just 20, made his family determined to raise funds and awareness of the condition, and they will be reach a wider audience on BBC1 on Sunday.

John and Lin Sutherland ran the London Marathon last year in memory of their son, with their daughter Mherrin following in their footsteps in this year’s run.

Now they will feature as part of a short documentary series called Lifeline.

The ten-minute show, presented by Eastenders actress Nina Wadia, will be an appeal on behalf of Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), a charity that carries out vital research into Type 1 Diabetes.

John said: “We had a phonecall from JDRF asking if we’re still comfortable putting his story out there, and we jumped at the chance.

“The guys came up from London to do the recording and sat with us to film in the house, and interviewed us.

“They filmed in Aidan’s room, with shots of his football strips and things, and also filmed us on the beach.”

Aidan died after becoming ill while out with friends in Newcastle to celebrate his 20th birthday. He was well versed in handling low sugar levels but not when they were too high.

John said: “We were talking about the critical dangers of what can happen if it’s not man-managed 365 days a year. Aidan was great at managing it, but he probably took his concentration off it while celebrating his birthday.

“What we tried to highlight in the interview was that we didn’t know the symptoms of hyperglycemia. It’s the first time ever that he went hyper and he didn’t know what was happening and he just thought he’d maybe over-celebrated.

“He was lethargic, in bed with a drouth, getting a bad back due to being in bed all day, but it was actually his kidneys.

“Our message was to tell sufferers out there that you can beat this, but you’ve got to do it 365 days a year.

“We need to try make as many positives out of Aidan’s passing as we can, and this has been a positive for us. We’re getting his story out there nationwide. It’s also been good getting a plug for JDRF because they’ve been a source of strength for us.”

Lifeline can be seen on BBC1 at 1.50pm on Sunday, and will also be available on catch-up.