Douglas: Pilot

In 1989, Douglas Cairns was a British Royal Air Force jet pilot at the age of 25 when he was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, and consequently lost his flying career. In 2000 he regained the freedom to fly in the USA as a licenced private pilot, and then went on to complete "Diabetes World Flight" in 2003, the first round-the-world flight by a pilot with type 1 diabetes.

After completing his world flight Douglas wrote a book on his experiences (Dare to Dream: Flying Solo With Diabetes) and spent three years in the USA giving sponsored motivational talks to the diabetes community. During this time he set five world speed records and two transcontinental speed records in the USA using the Diabetes World Flight "Beech Baron," and broke the existing records to land in all 48 contiguous states of the USA before smashing the existing 13-day record to land in all 50 USA states by taking just 5 days and 15 hours in 2010. Douglas is a founder member of Pilots With Diabetes and is passionate about raising awareness of diabetes, and still gives regular talks to diabetes conferences & meetings, highlighting that diabetes need not limit the scope of people's dreams and ambitions.

"I have been using the Dexcom for over a year and find it an invaluable tool for helping control blood sugars. One of the most compelling aspects of the Dexcom is seeing where blood sugars are trending and taking action accordingly to keep control as close to normal as possible – I find this particularly powerful for flying with diabetes, notably during last year’s record breaking flight to land in all 48 contiguous states of the USA, and anticipating this year’s attempt on the existing record to land in all 50 states. Over the years, flying navigation has become easier and more accurate with the advent of GPS technology - knowing where you are at any point and knowing if you are on-track or off-track in navigating to your destination. The Dexcom is just like a personal blood sugar GPS: knowing where your blood sugars are and where they are trending, and as with flying, if you are trending off course, doing something about it to come back on track. I couldn’t speak more highly of it."