Meet the 25 Youth Leaders

Sergi Vernet - Spain

Sergi Vernet is 25-years-old and lives in Tarragona, Spain.  A gentle and fun young man, Sergi has a degree in History of Art from the University of Barcelona.  He is fascinated by European gothic art.  Since 2001 he has been a dedicated athlete and has run in 7 marathons and 45 half-marathons.

“[Running] a marathon is something special,” Sergi wrote, “because you are fighting against your body and your senses.  For me marathons are an example of the spirit of overcoming.”

Sergi is familiar with needing to overcome challenges.  He still remembers the day he went to the hospital in May of 2002 for treatment of his newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes.  Today he faces a serious case of discrimination based on his diabetes: wanting nothing more then to be a police officer, Sergi is forbidden from having the job because he has diabetes.  He hopes to soon gain the appeal to the Spanish courts to end this legally-permitted discrimination. 

A volunteer for ‘Fundacion para la Diabetes’ or the Diabetes Foundation in Madrid, it is Sergi’s dream to help people with diabetes.  “I like to play football with young diabetic people that study in the center where I work” he said, “they are young people with social problems. They need a lot of love.”

For the past two years he has working with the Foundation, helping to organize conferences and spending time talking with other young people with diabetes.  “Working as volunteer with young diabetic and poor people I have understood that they need our help, and that we must to do all we can do for them,” he explained. 

Sergi hopes to bring the basics of diabetes education to people across the globe, and to help form a group of young people with diabetes in his home country of Spain.  Sharing his views on the future activities of young advocates, Sergi wrote: “I think the medical advances are very important, and they must benefit all diabetic people, in developed and developing countries. One of the most important things for me is to fight for the poor people. They also must benefit [from] the medical advances. We must [work] to make access more reliable and cheaper for the poor countries.”

A dedicated advocate with personal experiences regarding diabetes both medically and in terms of its harsh social implications, Sergi Vernet was a natural selection to be an Ambassador among the International Diabetes Federation’s Youth Leaders. 

Sergi feels it is important for young people to take initiative and apply themselves as advocates, because as he so simply puts it “we are the future.”