As a 10-year-old I remember it being my grannies birthday and I needed to go to the toilet every 10-15 minutes and constantly being thirsty. My mum had noticed that I had lost a lot of weight (I weighed around 50kg) and she thought that it might be diabetes. I was very lucky that my mum was a nurse and was able to piece together the symptoms and I did a ketone urine test at home before going to hospital. I don’t remember much whilst there except my first hypo was treated by a nurse with Lucozade (I hated Lucozade as a child; it was way too fizzy) and my first injection (being woken up by a sharp pain in my leg to see the doctor had injected me with insulin).

Initially I was put on syringes and vials of insulin before graduating onto novorapid and levimere insulin pens. When I was 16, I was offered the chance to move onto the omnipod which I have been on ever since. Having a patch pump allows me to have the flexibility to do the sports I love whilst still being able to get the benefits of being on a pump and being able to suspend my insulin/reduce it for exercise.

Exercise brings my blood sugar down during the exercise and then also for around 4-6 hours afterwards as well. This puts me at a risk of a hypo which can then make it harder to manage as if I overcorrect then this creates almost like a yo-yo effect where I then need to inject more insulin which then risks a greater chance of hypo which then increases the risk of overcorrecting. It is also very dependent on the exercise that I do as to whether my blood sugar increases or decreases. If I get it wrong, especially on the longer runs I may end up in diabetic ketoacidosis which may require monitoring in hospital whilst my blood sugar returns to normal.

Exercise brings my blood sugar down during the exercise and then also for around 4-6 hours afterwards as well. This puts me at a risk of a hypo which can then make it harder to manage as if I overcorrect then this creates almost like a yo-yo effect where I then need to inject more insulin which then risks a greater chance of hypo which then increases the risk of overcorrecting.

Usually if I am going to do sport, I will reduce my basal before the sports and then the type of sport that I do determines how I control it after that.

If it is lifting weights or an anaerobic activity then I would usually sip on a bottle of Lucozade whilst I train to help keep my blood sugars stable.

If it’s a longer run/bike ride or more aerobic exercise then I would drink around 500ml Lucozade before the start of the run and have around 30g carbs per hour that I am exercising. I would also then check my blood sugar every 15 minutes whilst exercising to determine if it is going up or down. I don’t tend to rely on the accuracy of the Dexcom as this manages the cellular level of blood glucose and there is a lag between the cellular blood glucose level and the blood glucose level as measured by a finger prick test. I find the finger prick test to be more accurate and so I use this as the basis of how I control my blood sugar during sports.

I have found swimming to be an exercise however that doesn’t seem to follow the general rules outlined above. Usually, I would only reduce the temporary basal or have 30g carbs per hour but very rarely both.

Often if my blood sugars are higher post exercise, I will inject ½ of my correction dose and monitor for the next hour or two. I use the Dexcom sensor to determine trends and then I usually have another bottle of Lucozade with me to sip on if I need to keep my blood sugars topped up.

Captaining/managing the school’s football team to consecutive Yorkshire School’s cup victories and scoring in one of the finals.

Winning various judo competitions and being asked to train with the British judo squad at 15 (though not being able to attend as I had a broken collarbone).

Winning the HBSFL cup and plate and as an avid hull city supporter) beating the Hull City football academy 2-1 was certainly a highlight.

Playing and winning a football tournament in Spain with my youth team and playing in a French football tournament for the university.

Achieving personal strength goals including bench pressing 100kg and deadlifting 180kg.

After being diagnosed with long covid for around 2 years, finally beating it in 2025 and running three half marathons and a sub 50 minute 10km.

No.

I have been very fortunate as my mum was a nurse who would attend a lot of the sporting events when I was younger and would be able to provide the coaches with comfort that I was safe whilst competing in the sports.

As I grew older, it became very much my risk and people could see that I was responsible so they trusted my ability to manage the condition whilst completing sport and trusted that I would be safe.

For 2026:

• Run a sub 1 hour 45 ½ marathon
• Complete a full distance triathlon
• Attempt to get a sub 20 minute 5km

That there will be a lot of trial and error and it may get frustrating but you just got to persevere. That and nutrition plays such a crucial role in managing diabetes and sport. It isn’t solely about adjusting and managing insulin delivery but also about how you fuel the body whilst you do the sport.

It doesn’t stop and you can never take a break. It is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Your blood sugars play up in the night, there is no sleeping through it, you need to act there and then.