B.C. teen gives back after life-changing diagnosis [Video]

CENTRAL SAANICH, B.C. –

Rather than the fleeting feeling of butterflies in his stomach while riding on a swing, Andrei Marti had started feeling an enduring sickness every day.

“I was dizzy. I had headaches,” Andrei recalls of that summer between kindergarten and Grade 1. “I was thirsty all the time.”

Andrei’s mom, Annelies Browne, took her five year old to their family doctor for a diagnosis.

“[The doctor] came back sort of white as a ghost,” Annelies says, describing how the doctor appeared after performing some tests.

“And she said, ‘Pack your bags.’”

They headed to the hospital and after three days there, another doctor confirmed that Andrei had Type 1 diabetes. He told the boy there would never be a cure in his lifetime.

“And Andrei looked at him and said, ‘Not in your lifetime, but in mine there would be,’” Annelies recalls with a laugh. “And I was like if anybody can handle this, Andrei can handle …