After Jon’s incredible commitment to the work of our cause he has recently been added to the Board of Directors at The Diabetes Football Community C.I.C after a recent organisational meeting… Congratulations Jon and following that he sat down to write his thoughts on what’s been going on for himself in 2020…
“2020. What a stinker of a year. Diabetes and football both suffered for me this year. It started off recovering after shoulder surgery in November 2019. January brought the first few football training sessions and I was finding my fitness again. Then I broke a rib training when an innocent collision with a team mate caused me a ridiculous amount of pain. So another recovery and just as I was getting started again, we entered lockdown! Roll on August when we started pre season training. It was going well and I’d played the first few games of the season when I had a nasty accident on my bike resulting in a horrible concussion, keeping me off football for another 10 weeks off after a month of constant headaches. On top of that, I’m also suffering with 2 frozen shoulders, which really limit the movement and impact massively upon my sleep every night (any advice welcome!) Frozen shoulders are another one of the added complications that people with Diabetes are prone to, with no known evidence as to why. Add to this the mental impact of working from home that so many of us have suffered with, and it’s not been great on that front.
Then there’s the blood glucose…..all the periods of inactivity make it harder to maintain tight control for me. Some days have been great, some awful! When you factor in the increase in body weight meaning it’s another factor to have to deal with when calculating the regular insulin, it’s been a tough battle, but one I’m determined to win.
So what about the positives? Our TDFC WhatsApp group has been far more active, with lots of advice and mickey taking going on as people are facing new situations and have more time on their hands. I also took on the role of updating the social media accounts during lockdown, so was responsible for posting and editing all the toilet roll challenge posts and the player profiles. While it was time consuming, it was also great to interact with so many people, and realise the difference that TDFC was making to so many. It was great reading the comments posted on the clips sent in, and the encouragement and advice that the community were offering each other.
I also got involved with Diabetes UK and a couple of their campaigns on being active with diabetes and diabetes and technology, and have featured on their website a few times, social media channels and recently in balance magazine.
I also recorded a podcast with a veteran of the podcast Chris Bright! We were lucky enough to be invited to do one with Stevie Ward, captain of Leeds Rhinos (my team!) and the charity he has set up to support means mental health, Mantality. We’ve had loads of positive feedback from it which is great to receive and if you haven’t heard it yet check it out by clicking here .
So 2021. Here’s hoping for a better year for sport and diabetes!”
it’s ok to not be ok and always reach out when things are tough… 2020 has been a year like no other and we just want to say we’re always here for anyone who needs to reach out. So many of us have had a tough year and we need to stick together.
Here’s to a happier and healthy new year.
