Health Secretary to meet Hull father campaigning for Lyla's Law
West Streeting says he will speak with the father of Lyla Story, who died from undiagnosed type 1 diabetes
The Government’s Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, has pledged to speak with the father of Lyla Story, a two-year-old girl from Hull who sadly died from undiagnosed type 1 diabetes last year. Lyla’s father, John, is campaigning for every child with symptoms of the condition to be given a simple, potentially, life-saving test.
On May 3, 2025, Lyla tragically died in her sleep just 16 hours after being diagnosed with tonsillitis by a GP. However, Lyla’s cause of death was undiagnosed type 1 diabetes, which led to acute diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) and a gastrointestinal bleed.
Following Lyla’s passing, John launched the petition named “Lyla’s Law.” The proposals would make routine diabetes testing mandatory for babies, toddlers, children and adolescents whenever any of the ‘4 T’s’ appear:
- Toileting
- Thirst
- Tiredness
- Thinning
Lyla’s Law will be debated in Parliament in the Spring as the petition surpassed the 100,000 signatures mark. When the petition closed in December 2025, over 121,000 people had signed.
On January 22, the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, spoke to local radio stations across England. Whilst on BBC Radio Humberside, Mr Streeting was played a clip of John saying: “Mr Streeting, I have tried for seven months to meet with you to discuss the Lyla’s Law campaign.
“There are too many people getting diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in critical care, especially young children who cannot advocate for themselves and express what they are feeling, so please understand the urgency of this meeting.
“Every day that passes, somebody else gets diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in critical care. It’s on your watch Wes, please meet with me.”
In response, Mr Streeting said: “That’s the easiest question to answer. Yes, I’ll definitely do that.
“If you pass me the details, I’ll get my office to get in touch as quickly as we can. That’s one waiting list that I can directly manage. It’ll be a lot faster than 18 weeks.”
John concluded: “Meeting with Wes Streeting is a crucial step for our campaign. I hope this conversation will bring Lyla’s Law closer to becoming a reality, so that no other family has to go through the heartbreak we experienced. This is about turning our tragedy into action and protecting children across the country.”
The Government did respond to the petition in July 2025. Saying: “NHS England provides diabetes care in children. Due to insufficient evidence supporting routine mandatory testing for paediatric type 1 diabetes it has no plans to introduce this at the current time.”