![Fred about 4 weeks before his diagnosis](https://thumbor.ixchosted.com/WQ3i8a5zmHKnYn2tHTyw4YsKujY=/1600x500/https://rfds-media.s3.amazonaws.com/dd/news/Fred_Turner_on_his_RFDS_emergency_flight.05a3.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIA57J6V557HP5WJ6WZ&Signature=6w3vCc3l%2B5uYUundLUOfYkgXdc4%3D&Expires=1719981518)
![Fred on the RFDS stretcher about to be loaded on the plane](https://thumbor.ixchosted.com/OVk6N46MD_dQZ67O4b3LjtHF9XM=/900x0/https://rfds-media.s3.amazonaws.com/dd/text_and_image/Fred_on_the_RFDS_stretcher_about_to_be_loaded_on_the_plane.a269.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIA57J6V557HP5WJ6WZ&Signature=I1rohnIMxchosF0PXRlQzkmVIj0%3D&Expires=1719981518)
When it comes to accurately describing outback Australia, the remote Queensland town of Blackhall literally boasts a memorial to the iconic ‘black stump’.
But while the Turner family has always enjoyed living and working in isolated locations, when (then) seven-year-old Fred violently vomited and then slumped against his mother, Emma, on Anzac day in 2015, they suddenly felt a very long way from help.
![Fred Turner on his RFDS emergency flight 2](https://thumbor.ixchosted.com/n4r5GXcIqH1BDmNWWkEFycvtrlo=/900x0/https://rfds-media.s3.amazonaws.com/dd/text_and_image/Fred_Turner_on_his_RFDS_emergency_flight_2.497c.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIA57J6V557HP5WJ6WZ&Signature=ERhwiy%2BUBMZNd6C9BrMcJkNhChg%3D&Expires=1719981518)
Emma is an experienced rural midwife, nurse and a highly regarded health educator – but in this honest and insightful Episode #89 of the Flying Doctor podcast, Emma admits that nothing fully prepares you for the moment when your child is diagnosed with a life-long illness like Type 1 diabetes.
![Fred Turner taking part in the World's Greatest Shave](https://thumbor.ixchosted.com/mhTVpISvo1KrGHIbA3Ro4_3LgB0=/900x0/https://rfds-media.s3.amazonaws.com/dd/text_and_image/Fred_Turner_taking_part_in_the_Worlds_Greatest_Shave.d5c3.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIA57J6V557HP5WJ6WZ&Signature=0n9Dt2WkAL%2BSmR6XbJffapZfS8M%3D&Expires=1719981518)
After Fred appeared to be taking a long time to recover from the flu and also began wetting the bed at night, Emma soon realised his symptoms were adding up to Type 1 diabetes.
Fred was a text book example of the four Type 1 Ts. Tired, toilet, thirsty, thinner.
From a daunting flight on an RFDS plane to a whole new world of testing and medications, this is an episode of the Flying Doctor that every parent and caregiver will want to hear