Dancer Turns Type 1 Diagnosis Into Support for 60,000

Jazz Sethi lost 7 kilograms in one week during football practice at age 13. Three days in the ICU later, doctors told her she had Type 1 Diabetes and would need insulin injections for life.

"I was naive enough to believe that once I left the hospital, I would be cured," Jazz remembers. The shock hit hard when she realized her condition was permanent.

What bothered Jazz most wasn't just the diagnosis. She couldn't find any information about Type 1 Diabetes written for young people, and she didn't meet another person with the condition for years.

So at 31, the professional dancer and choreographer decided to create what she once needed. In 2018, she founded Diabesties Foundation in Ahmedabad to help people with Type 1 Diabetes feel heard, understood and celebrated.

Jazz started with a YouTube channel making information about diabetes fun and engaging. She tracked down 25 people through her doctor's contacts and invited them to meet up. To her surprise, all 25 showed up.

Those small gatherings grew into something bigger. Today, Diabesties runs 32 chapters across India, holding DiaMeets three times a year where patients and families connect face to face.

The numbers tell one story: 90 DiaMeets with 7,300 participants, 210 YouTube videos reaching 674,000 viewers, and support for over 60,000 patients. But Jazz says the real stories happen behind those statistics.

One teenager told the team she felt less alone after her first DiaMeet. A depressed girl contemplating suicide later said Diabesties saved her life.

Why This Inspires

Jazz uses her privilege openly and purposefully. She has access to an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor that many Indians cannot afford, and she's determined to change that reality.

"What is needed for a good quality of life is not just knowing how to stay alive, but how to live and thrive with Type 1 Diabetes," she explains.

India has 800,000 registered Type 1 diabetics, but Jazz points to a darker number: 900,000 "missing" patients who died before diagnosis or couldn't access treatment. Many rural doctors don't recognize the symptoms.

The foundation now employs 50 people, all of whom either have Type 1 Diabetes or are caregivers. They focus exclusively on Type 1 because Jazz believes Type 2 gets sufficient attention, while Type 1 families face overwhelming stigma, misinformation and financial burden overnight.

She shares a tragic case from Bengaluru where parents pushed their two children with Type 1 Diabetes into a river before taking their own lives. Four people died because of stigma and cost.

Jazz turned her own shock into a beacon for thousands who once felt invisible, proving that the hardest diagnoses can spark the most powerful communities.