THE pharmacist father of a Co Antrim schoolgirl who was left in intensive care after a serious onset of flu exacerbated an underlying diabetic condition, has won a top award for devising a programme which helps people potentially reverse the onset of Type 2 Diabetes.
Eoghan O'Brien, who works at Bannside Pharmacy in Portglenone, won `Health Initiative of the Year' at the Chemist + Druggist Awards (C+D) for the Portglenone Diabetes Partnership.
The award was presented to the 52-year-old father-of-four at a special event at the InterContinental in London this week.
Out of the 10 people who took part in the Bannside project, at the end of the 12 weeks, two participants were in partial remission, two had reduced their medication and one had lost 10 per cent of their body weight.
The judging panel said the project showed "the potential for community pharmacy to tackle this huge health burden for the nation".
Mr O'Brien won the award 17 months after his then seven-year-old daughter Carla fell ill and ended up in intensive care in January 2018.
The talented young gymnast fell gravely ill within a matter of hours and it was found she had Type 1 Diabetes.
She was admitted for life saving treatment and discharged a month later.
Eoghan and his wife Aine spoke out at the time to tell their daughter's story in the hope of warning other parents to look out for the signs of Type 1 Diabetes.
Speaking to the Irish News yesterday, Mr O'Brien said the Type 2 project had the "potential to be an enhanced pharmacy service".
"It could be rolled out through other community pharmacies. It can be scaled up and replicated."
