GIVING IT A GO

I was four years old when I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. That was 21 years ago now.

I do actually remember sitting in the doctor’s room and being quite disappointed because I had a birthday party that afternoon, and I wasn’t allowed to go because I had to go to hospital and learn about diabetes.

I don’t remember too much about life before diabetes. It’s just been something I’ve had to live with. There were moments, especially at high school when I was having to test my blood or take insulin, when I felt a little bit different from all the other kids. But my close friends were very good and understood what was going on.

I don’t remember much about life before athletics either. I was always very involved at school. The athletics carnivals were my favourite days of the year. I started doing little athletics when I was about 10 years old and I’ve been doing Surf Lifesaving since I was eight or nine. I was quickly drawn to the sprinting side of things, both on the track and on the beach. I found out that I was reasonably good at it and I loved to train. My peak achievement in that area is probably becoming the 2021 National Beach Sprint Champion. It was amazing to win that title. For the last couple of years, I’ve also been sprint cycling, and I got talent identified for sprint cycling, so I’ve been pursuing that area more.

Having diabetes definitely did make it more challenging. There were a lot of things I had to be aware of, and a lot of things I had to get to know about myself and how I responded to exercise and things like that. So it was, and still is, a difficult thing to manage. But I think the key point is I didn’t let it hold me back and it didn’t stop me from doing the things that I love. You need to find a way of managing it that works for you, so you can do the sport. Once you’ve got your diabetes under control, you know how your body’s going respond to that to those activities. There’s an element of wanting to prove myself. I’ve got a condition that the majority of the other competitors don’t have. Getting your diabetes under control and getting your blood sugars right, so you can produce the best performance possible is definitely challenging. But when you overcome those challenges, it just makes it so much more worth it, I guess, and meaningful.

The advice I’d give anyone like me is — you need to get to know yourself and how you respond to different types of exercise. The only way to do that is through trial and error. You just have to be a prepared to potentially have a low or a high. Make sure that you are prepared for those moments. If you’re doing some exercise, make sure you’ve got snacks or glucose nearby or with you.

Another thing that made a big difference for me was going on a type 1 camp when I was younger. Before that, I hadn’t actually met many other diabetics. It was an eye opener to see that, okay, there’s quite a lot of other people out there with diabetes, and you know, seeing them having the same challenges that I had was super important.

It made me realise there is a community out there. I also follow quite a few people who are diabetics on social media, and it is really helpful to know that the community is there and other people are going through the same thing, same challenges as me. I find that inspiring.

When I meet young people like me who want to compete, I always say don’t let diabetes hold you back. Don’t let your fears hold you back. Because you don’t know what you can achieve when you just give it a go.