Experiences that make you see life from another dimension

This summer, in one of the theoretically happiest weeks of the year, we have lived one of those experiences that make you grow, learn, and see life and priorities with a different dimension. On August 5th after a fantastic day, paddle surfing, enjoying the sea and the relaxation of the first week of vacations, my little daughter (11) made her debut with diabetes type 1. Fortunately I suspected that something was wrong and we went to a pharmacy to measure her glucose, almost 900 mg/ml ! From there, an emergency admission to the hospital was triggered where her ketones were sky high, if I had not gone in time in a few days Clara would have had a diabetic coma with uncertain repercussions for her life. Everything went very fast and after 6 days of hospital admission Clara is perfectly stabilized, she is feeling great and we are in the process of becoming experts in insulin dose adjustments, measuring carbohydrate portions and lifestyle. Looking back a few days, this experience makes me see many things with a different dimension: Things that we all know very well but that now I see them as with a more “intense color” and are much more present to me: On the one hand it is incredible how you can move from paddle surfing with the people you love the most in the world to spend the night in a hospital with one of them in a vital emergency that you could not imagine. So, let's not take for granted the things we have because we can lose them in the blink of an eye, you have to enjoy every second of the people you love and take care of them every moment! On the other hand, living a vital emergency where you are very scared, you feel helpless, you try to imagine how will be the future of your daughter who until now was perfectly healthy, makes you even more aware of the impact we have as an industry in people, how a very serious disease becomes something bearable, and we can lead a practically normal life after a few weeks. Insulin pumps, analogues, smart sensors etc... have radically changed this disease and children can live freely as any other child. All this has made me even more aware of the impact we have at Biogen and even more proud to work here. It is now even easier for me to imagine what patients and their families may feel when they are diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, SMA and other devastating neurological diseases and how our therapies dramatically change their lives. I now see even more vividly what these people's lives would be like without our therapies, without our years of research and risk-taking in areas where no one has ever registered any drugs before, in the impact that being a pioneer in Neuroscience has on patients' lives. Likewise, this experience has made me more aware and prouder of the effort we put into pediatric indications of out therapies and the impact we have on children and their families. I wanted to take this opportunity to thank the excellent health professionals and best people who attended my daughter in the emergency room, on the hospital floor and the pediatric endocrinologists especially Dr. Alba Corrales,Dr. Jorge Frontela and Dra Alba Corrales. To the nurses Maria José Jover, Inmaculada Navarrete y Jennifer Poveda. I can hardly imagine a better treatment, better humanity, and professional excellence of the team of the Hospital of Torrevieja. We will never forget it. Thank you all very much. Biotechnology, science, research, and health professionals are essential for the welfare of society, let us invest more resources so that patients have access to the most innovative therapies and let us care for and invest without limit in health professionals.