PASSION PROJECT

Vince Harder and Abby Lee Harder’s new song – ‘Overwhelmed’ – is their most personal yet, and its video, produced in partnership with Diabetes NZ, is a heartfelt plea for continuous glucose monitors to be funded.

Vince and Abby vividly remember their daughter Presley’s diagnosis with type 1 diabetes last year.

Presley, who was 17 months old, had a high fever and vomiting, but none of the doctors the couple took her to considered it might be diabetes.

Abby says, ‘They just thought she had a gastro bug. We even got a urine test done, and they noticed high glucose in the urine, but said it could be a side effect of the bug. We kept getting sent home and told to monitor her, and her symptoms just kept getting worse.

‘By around day four, Vince was saying, “Take her back to the doctor. You’ve got to take her back.”’

Both parents had a strong gut feeling things weren’t right. Vince says, ‘On that last day, she didn’t have a fever anymore, but she was still vomiting, and she had really different, sweet-smelling breath. I was like, you’ve got to take her.’

Abby recalls, ‘Our son Jaxon was due to start kindy the next day, so Vince stayed home with him, and I took Presley to A & E, and from there it was an ambulance to Waitākere hospital.

‘It was actually a paramedic in the ambulance who asked me to do a blood glucose test. We have no family history of type 1, so when they told me that her blood sugar level was 30, I didn't know what that meant.’

By this time, Presley was in severe DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis). She was soon moved to Starship Children’s Hospital, where she spent two nights on a drip in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.

New Zealand was at Level 2. Because of the level’s restrictions, ‘only one of us could be in with her at a time. Vince and I would transition in the hallways.’

Presley began to perk up on her second day, but the Harders stayed at Starship for another five days, learning about life with type 1.

MAKING MUSIC TOGETHER

Their new life as type 1 parents inspired Vince and Abby to write a song about parents and children.

The duo had only recently started working closely together on joint musical projects. Vince says, ‘Pretty much since we started dating we’ve shared our music with each other. Then, when we were living in Australia, I used to do a lot of covers with different musicians and friends online, and Abby and I started doing that together as well. We grew a bit of a fan base together, but we still didn’t really write our own songs together.’

It wasn’t until New Zealand went into lockdown last year that this changed. ‘We thought, oh well, we’ve got no one else to write with now!’ says Abby. ‘Maybe now’s the time we should actually start a project together. Lockdown gave us the space and time to do that, because usually it’s easy with your spouse to just get caught up in the day-to-day stuff.’

Vince and Abby have released two of their own songs together so far. ‘Overwhelmed’ will be their third.

It was friends, hearing the song and loving it, who suggested the Harders should partner with a charity to release it. Vince and

Abby knew straight away that Diabetes NZ was the organisation they wanted to do this with. ‘We’re really lucky that Diabetes NZ came on board,’ says Abby.

‘Overwhelmed’ will be available on all major music platforms on 13 August. Keep an eye on the Diabetes NZ Facebook page for the music video plus interviews with the Harders and other type 1 families. Download the track to support Diabetes NZ.

OVERWHELMED – THE VIDEO

When it came to creating the video for ‘Overwhelmed’, the Harders wanted to use it to raise awareness about type 1 diabetes generally, as well as about how life changing continuous glucose monitors can be for those living with type 1 and their families, and how unfair it is that many can’t afford them.

‘CGMs were life changing for us,’ says Abby. ‘So we’ll do what we can. We’ll write songs and see what happens.’

She remembers, ‘The Starship nurses were amazing when Presley got diagnosed. They knew that, because she was so young, a CGM was going to be a lot easier for us. They got us started on a Libre when she was in hospital.

‘Presley’s not able to tell us how she’s feeling, so it just means you can have some peace of mind when going to sleep. Otherwise, you’re up every two hours checking.

‘So for us, it was like, if there’s some way we can help other families get these funded, that would be amazing … and then it grew into this whole thing of creating awareness of diabetes as a whole.’

Diabetes NZ helped the Harders find two children with type 1 who were happy to feature in the video and be shown using their CGMs: Eden Iona from Auckland and Jaylen-Blaze Daane from Invercargill.

While, for Vince and Abby, making the video began as something they wanted to do to give to the diabetes community, they found they got back a huge amount as well.

Simply working with Eden and Jaylen-Blaze and seeing the way the two children embraced life, despite the challenges of type 1, gave them powerful encouragement.

‘It’s really cool,’ says Vince. ‘Because you hope for your own kids that their diabetes won’t hold them back from doing anything they want.’

VIDEO STARS: EDEN & JAYLEN-BLAZE

JAYLEN-BLAZE DAANE, 11

Jaylen-Blaze’s mum Toni describes him as ‘unstoppable’. With a passion for performing arts, he’s currently juggling his school production, kapa haka, jazz band practice, saxophone lessons, choir, ukulele club, plus his own band – The Geeks. ‘He’s pretty much in anything he can sign up to,’ says Toni.

It’s with The Geeks that Jaylen‐Blaze appears in the ‘Overwhelmed’ video.

DIAGNOSED AS A TODDLER

Jaylen-Blaze was diagnosed at two and a half. Toni says it means diabetes is all he’s known. Currently, he’s using a Dexcom CGM, through a clinical trial he’s part of. The Dexcom allows him to do whatever he wants, with Toni still able to monitor his blood glucose levels from a distance, as it sends information to her phone.

She wishes they’d had the Dexcom several months ago when Jaylen- Blaze’s pump site failed one night and he went into DKA. ‘If we’d had the Dexcom then, I would have got the alert that he was going high and we could have saved the hospital stay.’

ON SET

During the video shoot for ‘Overwhelmed’, Jaylen-Blaze had to act as if he was going low. In fact, soon after that, he did have a genuine low – which Toni puts down to the adrenaline of the filming experience.

The whole band was excited about the experience. ‘We’re thinking about getting the band together and having a reveal party when the video comes out,’ says Toni. ‘It’ll be cool if they come round and we can all watch it together.’

Jaylen-Blaze Daane

EDEN IONA, 11

Eden Iona is sports mad, with a special passion for netball and waka ama.

In the ‘Overwhelmed’ video she’s shown training with her netball team, Papatoetoe Rangers PR11.

‘All of us were excited,’ she says.

SAFETY WITH A CGM

Like Jaylen-Blaze, Eden uses a Dexcom CGM. ‘It’s much better than trying to do finger pricks every day,’ she says, ‘and it also shows on my watch, which is much easier than trying to get my phone out of my bag.’

During sports games, the CGM is especially useful. Running off the court to do finger pricks can be a big obstacle to play.

Eden’s parents are just as glad, if not more, that she’s able to use the Dexcom. It sends messages to them as well, so they can keep an eye on how her blood sugar is tracking throughout the day. ‘It’s peace of mind. She’s just started at a new school in the city,’ says Eden’s mother Tasi, ‘so it’s quite a lot further away.’

SPEAKING OUT FOR DIABETES

Sports isn’t Eden’s only passion – she loves public speaking. She featured in the Autumn 2021 issue of Diabetes Wellness, after capturing everyone’s heart as a speaker at Diabetes NZ's Challengers Dinner gala fundraiser in December.

Remembering the first time she spoke to an audience about type 1 diabetes, she says, ‘I felt happy I was putting my voice out there. I saw how people responded, and how shocked they were at how serious it could be. That really touched me, and I understood that I made a little bit of difference.’

Tasi is a proud mum: ‘I could not do what she does – standing in front of all those people. But her dad is a natural orator, and my dad is natural, so I think that’s where she got it from.

‘She gets a lot of encouragement from us when she’s speaking, and she knows that when she’s up there she’s not only presenting herself but the family, and that gives her the confidence as well.’

Eden (right) with her dad Sila, mum Tasi, and her little sisters Mercy and Ariya.