A woman’s powerful success story meant she became the face of a campaign by the Bermuda Diabetes Association to change how the community views health.

Kennita Perry, who features in a short video for the charity’s “Live Your Best Life” programme, is a testament to overcoming the helplessness and depression that can come from a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, one of the island’s top chronic diseases.

The 49-year-old, a counsellor with a beaming smile, is a picture of good health.

However she was struck in her teens with a serious case of lifestyle-induced diabetes that could have claimed her life.

Working in hospitality from a young age with “free access to everything and anything to eat and drink”, Ms Perry was also at genetic risk.

Diabetes has been rampant in her family, and she lost her mother to the disease.

Her diagnosis came at age 16 because “I knew something was wrong”, she said. Frequently needing to urinate was a red flag.

“I would have been dealing with it for years before I was diagnosed,” Ms Perry said. “I was feeling sick and tired, with a really dry mouth. I decided to visit my doctor.”

A blood test known as the HbA1c is the main diagnostic tool

“My count — normal might be around five — was 21. My doctor had never seen a number so high, and I don’t know if anyone has. A team had to be created so that I could be as healthy as possible, but it has been a journey.”

That journey caught the attention of the Bermuda Diabetes Association as it sought to change the narrative around diabetes into one of empowerment, inspiring people with diabetes to take charge of their health.

Alba Fernandez, who handles communications for the BDA, said: “We felt that the energy she was bringing mirrored what we wanted to put out there.”

The video of Ms Perry’s story was launched last month on social media, and is headed to broadcast and cinema advertising.

Type 2 diabetes can be brought under control and, in some cases, put into remission.

Getting there can be difficult, as Ms Perry freely acknowledges.

“I was told just to do exercise and change my lifestyle, but I didn’t know how to do that, and I ended up on medication, taking insulin.“

She recalled being told it was “nothing to worry about — just a touch of sugar”.

Diabetes seemed like “a disease that happens to people that don’t take care of themselves”.

Very little information was given to her — and, as a teenager, she rebelled.

“I was still a child,” she said. “I had just received the freedom of getting my own bike. My diagnosis felt like the worst thing that could have happened.

“I went through a few years fighting it. When I went to university is when I really started to understand what was happening in my body.“

She credits meeting Sara Bosch De Noya, a diabetes educator with the association, for helping her to turn her life around.

Ms Perry said: “I have my life because of her intervention, because of how thorough and caring she is, the time and energy she put into helping me understand my diabetes and make changes. She got me to care.”

She balanced self-care, exercise and medication as she fought through serious medical conditions: arterial disease, including a collapsed carotid artery, and strokes.

Asked how she managed to be so upbeat, Ms Perry said: “By choice. I had to make that decision.

“I went through many years being depressed. I didn’t want to get out of bed. I felt so bad, so long, so often — eventually I got sick and tired of being sick and tired.”

She added: “It’s really easy to focus on what’s wrong with you. We’re conditioned to do that. There’s a disease, and that’s you in its entirety.

“Over the years I have learnt that I have diabetes, and I have a wonderful life that I have chosen to create.

”No one would know that I have to take ten pills a day. If I only focused on that part of my life, I would still be depressed.”

The minute-long video shows Ms Perry’s home and how she starts her day, with her authentic message of hope and happiness.

“I really appreciate being a part of this,” she said. “That commercial is how I actually feel.”

Ms Perry acknowledged that the feel-good factor could prove evasive to someone grappling with the diagnosis of a serious illness.

Part of what keeps her grounded is her seven-year-old daughter, Aurora, she said.

“You come to recognise it’s not just about you — what message am I giving my child if I’m not taking care of myself?

“I recognise that the life I live is the life I am showing her to live.”

She had to find “creative ways” to exercise, doing things she enjoyed, running and walking the Railway Trail, and “choosing something different”.

Her message to others facing type 2 diabetes is: “Whatever you’re feeling right now is OK. But know that it doesn’t have to be the worst thing that’s ever happened.

“It feels like that right now. But I can tell you from experience that you can continue to live your life.

“You do have support, and I can truly say the Bermuda Diabetes Association is the place to go. They provide things you didn’t know that you needed.”