As she embarked on her new life as a one-legged woman at the age of just 31, the penny finally dropped for Lakeisha Bovell-Seymour.

Even the loss of her right eye a year previously hadn't completely convinced the mother-of-two about the importance of taking her diabetes seriously.

But when her right leg had to be amputated shortly before Christmas 2004, Mrs. Bovell-Seymour realised her doctor wasn't really a quack when he told her to make sure she avoided the wrong foods and never missed an insulin injection.

Yesterday, to mark the end of Diabetes Awareness Month, Mrs. Bovell-Seymour, from Southampton, spoke to The Royal Gazette about her own regrets — and encouraged other diabetics not to make the same mistakes she did.

"It's a life-changing experience to say the least," she said. "I think you take your leg for granted because it's right there in front of you. The ability to walk up a flight of steps, walk anywhere, ride a bike.

"You have to learn how to walk again; you definitely can't run; I have to sit in the back seat of my mother's car because it's uncomfortable in the front.

"You listen to a man who complains he has no shoes. It sounds bad until you listen to the man who hasn't got any legs."

Mrs. Bovell-Seymour's eye and leg problems were caused by high blood sugar levels, brought on by Type Two diabetes, which she discovered she had inherited, at the age of 15.

Her condition would have been under control if she had followed her doctor's advice, but instead she took what she describes as a "gambit of risks".

Because she felt no pain she refused to accept she was a diabetic, didn't use her sugar level testing machine and failed to give up chocolates and candies.

"My thing was: 'I don't feel anything wrong, there can't be anything wrong — my doctor's a quack,'" she said.

Then, in 2003, a routine eye injury at home — caused by an accident with a shoe box while tidying up — spiralled into total loss of eyesight as a result of her high blood sugar levels.

"I thought it can't get any worse than that," she said. "Then later it got worse."

She lost a toe on her right foot as a result of nerve damage — again amplified by failing to control her diabetes effectively — before gangrene set in and her leg had to be amputated.

Even so, it could have been worse and Mrs. Bovell-Seymour, now 34, maintains a positive state of mind.

"They weren't sure if they were going to lose the leg or me entirely," she said.

"That's the extent so far of my damage. I'm on medication to prevent kidney failure. I follow now the advice of the person I thought was a quack. I have been keeping a bright outlook on life."

Diabetes accounted for 79 percent of amputations carried out at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital between April, 2006, and March this year.

The Island's diabetes rate is 13 percent — double that of the US — with the finger of blame pointed at factors such as poor diets and genetics.

It is thought hundreds more diabetics don't even realise they have got the condition.

"People associate problems with pain," said Mrs. Bovell-Seymour. "I have been hearing 2,000 Bermudians don't even know they are diabetic.

"I would encourage anyone: if you don't know your physical outlook, go to your doctor. Tell him what the risk factors are in your family.

"Ask the older members of your family if they have any risk factors you should be aware of."