My name is Tricia. Over 20 years ago I was diagnosed with Diabetes. I was having a tough time dealing with this. I was lucky enough to meet Bret backstage in Toronto, ON Canada. We got to talking and I had mentioned to him that I had recently been diagnosed with diabetes… He was amazing he asked me all kinds of questions and we talked for quite a while. He made me a deal that night, he wanted emails with updates on how things we going, any questions I may have to ask him and best of all. Whenever he came back to Toronto wanted to meet up with me and see how I was! Well he has kept his promise for over 20 years! Whenever he comes to Toronto, we meet up backstage whenever possible and talk. I am a true believer that people come into your life for a reason, and I am so blessed that the person to encourage and support me was my idol Bret Michaels. I honestly do not think I would be who I am or where I am without his support! I fought and will keep fighting every day. I tell Bret this every time I see him, and thank him.

We are continuing to share stories of people living with diabetes as part of our #KnowSurviveThrive campaign. Diabetes awareness is more than just one month, it’s every day. To submit your #KnowSurviveThrive story, visit our Submit Your Story page.