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Alfie Carr: Taking it in his stride!

Posted on by thediabetesfootballcommunity in Biography, diabetes, Football, sport

We were delighted to receive a message from Alfie’s Mum recently.  Alfie was diagnosed with diabetes during the Corona Virus lockdown in the UK and we have been delighted to offer support to him.  One of our squad, Craig, has been speaking with him and has even arranged for Alfie to speak to one of his favourite players at Notts County, who he supports.  Alfie’s Mum also tells us that he’s saving up to purchase one of our training tops.

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While it’s great for members of the squad to be writing their blogs, we absolutely love to receive and publish stories written by other people, such as this.

Alfie takes in everything he reads and sees. He read Rob’s diagnosis story blog, and wrote his own for his home learning this week! Here’s Alfie’s story and if you want to share yours, get in touch:

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“Inspired by someone else’s diabetes journey story, I wanted to write my own.

It was spring 2020 and we were in lockdown due to the corona virus outbreak.  I started drinking a lot and weeing a lot. I got tired and just thought it was due to working hard when I was doing learning. I lost a lot of weight, mum said I looked thinner, she thought I was just growing. In the night I was going to the toilet about 5 times and began to wet the bed sometimes. Mum thought it was just a water infection. So on April 23rd we went to see the doctor. Due to corona virus we had to wear a face mask. We saw a nurse and she asked me to do a wee sample- no problem for me because I couldn’t stop weeing! She checked it and asked to do a blood glucose test. I didn’t really know at the time what it was. She got a finger pricker and said I was 29.9 and it could be a possible case of diabetes. She said we had to go to hospital. When I got there they did more tests and my sugar was 35 and I definitely had diabetes. They asked mum lots of questions. I felt a bit worried about the injections but once I had done it I realised it wasn’t that bad. When I found out I could still do football it cheered me up. In hospital I learnt loads about diabetes, but what I remember the most is how supportive my football friends and family were. My team made a video for me and it made me smile and cry happy tears at the same time. I have been at home 7 weeks now.

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I’m only just starting off with diabetes but I know I can handle anything.”

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Scott Burrell: My Story with Type 1 Diabetes

Posted on by thediabetesfootballcommunity in Biography, diabetes, Football, sport

Disclaimer – Some of what you’ll read in Scott’s journey portrays difficulties, mistakes and challenges that have shaped who he is. As human beings we cannot go through life without making difficult decisions, but through doing this, we learn and evolve into who we were meant to be. But please be warned that some of Scott’s journey touches on some of those difficulties, mistakes, challenges and emotions that some may find tough to read.

It’s an extremely powerful, emotive and truthful account of how life has been for one of our own and we hope you enjoy the read.

Over to Scott to take us on his journey…

“My name is Scott Burrell, I’m 31 years old and have been a Type 1 Diabetic for 20 and a half of those 31 years! I remember my diagnosis day/week incredibly well considering I was only 11 years-old. It was the October half-term (so yes strictly speaking I’ve been T1 for longer than 20 and a half years now!) and I wasn’t going down to the village green to play football with my friends. I hadn’t been on any day of the break as I’d been laid on the sofa at home, this was very much out of character as usually I would be down that green every single evening in the summer and every day during school holidays playing football. I was drinking ridiculous amounts, drinking things I would never usually drink and even at one point freezing fizzy drinks (all full sugar in those days!) in an attempt to ‘freeze out’ the acid! The crazy mind of an 11 year old child! It had got to the point where I was going for a drink every 5-10 minutes and going to the toilet 6 or 7 times an hour. My parents called a doctor out on the Wednesday night as I had deteriorated again quite quickly, I did a urine test which was no problem at all as I was going to the toilet so regularly and as soon as that was done the doctor advised my parents to take me to the hospital ASAP. My dad drove the three of us to Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, Lincs (fantastic hospital for T1 care by the way!) and before I knew it I was on the ward strapped up to many drips and cables looking very much like a scene from Casualty was about to be shot…without the tomato sauce for blood! My mmol on the finger prick was 34.7 (normal range between 4 – 10 mmols ) and I was diagnosed T1 straight away. I don’t recall having ever heard the word diabetes before let alone having any idea what it was.

I remained in hospital for the next four nights and left on the Sunday. I’d had to take on so much information during this time I’m sure like everybody in this situation. I remember not being allowed to leave hospital until I’d done an injection myself, I was desperate to leave so reluctantly did one into my right quad which was a favoured injection site of mine for many, many years. This was so horrible and painful but the price I had to pay if I wanted to leave the hospital ward. I was on a twice daily mixed insulin, Humulin M3 and took this before breakfast and before evening meal. It combined 30% fast acting and 70% long acting. My parents were advised to practice on each other with water and I was told I could gain practice by injecting into an orange! I’m sure times have changed an awful lot now!

I would say initially I was doing pretty well as a T1, I tested fairly regularly, always logged my results in the log book, never missed an injection, tried as best I could and my hba1c was always in the 6-8 range so fairly acceptable. I hid my diabetes as much as I could. I always had breakfast and dinner at home so had no need to take any insulin to school with me and this suited me, I was different. As far as I knew I was the only T1 in my year and possibly in the school at the time however if there was another keeping it secret like myself then I wouldn’t know anyway. I had told a couple of close friends that I’d been in hospital and that I now had Type 1 Diabetes but similar to myself none of them had any idea what it was. The teaching staff were aware and I remember the first time I had to discuss this with a teacher, I was petrified. I was in the changing room for PE and was told by the hospital to have a fun size Mars bar before any sport, of course eating was banned in school classrooms and changing rooms so this would have been very out of place. I asked the teacher as quietly as I could if I could have said Mars bar because ‘I have diabetes’ and was greeted with a yes straight away. I tried to conceal eating this as much as possible from the rest of the group and seemed to succeed in doing so. This doesn’t seem like a lot but for me it signified difference. I didn’t want to be different. I wanted to be a normal 11 year old!

Fast forward a few years and I struggled during my teenage years with T1. I thought I was invincible and that it wasn’t something I needed to be concerned with. I very rarely tested, at my worst I did maybe one or two finger prick tests a month at times when I had played football, all other times I would just disregard testing. I didn’t think it was relevant, I didn’t care what my glucose levels were. I did however take my injections and never missed a single one. Before any appointments at the hospital with the DSN I would just make up readings (different coloured pens for authenticity of course!) in my log book and if I felt myself going hypo I would just eat, usually chocolate as we were told that was good for hypos then or Lucozade tablets which were very similar to the Lift tabs now. I recall one poignant day was actually on a family day trip to London, I would have been about 13 years-old at this point and we were in McDonalds having dinner, my dad had ordered a selection of items and we were to take what we wanted from the table in the busy upstairs seating area. I went to the toilets to do my injection only to find that they were out of order. I went back to the table and just sat down, I didn’t take any food and started crying. My dad was asking me what was up, but I didn’t answer, I continued crying and was very upset. I had nowhere private to inject so therefore made the decision that I would just not eat. I was that insistent on keeping my diabetes a secret I wasn’t prepared to sit in a restaurant and allow people to see me doing an injection, that’s not normal, or so I thought aged 13. Jumping ahead slightly here, I later found out much later that a lot of my injections were almost a waste of time anyway as I was injecting into non-recommended sites on my body. Looking back, I would imagine I was high (mmol above 10) for a majority of the time. If/when I did do an injection into a ‘good’ site this would bring me back into range as I seemed to be injecting quite a large amount of M3, way more than what I needed in reality, 40 units twice a day. In today’s MDI terms that worked out to be 56 units of slow release a day and 24 units of fast acting…far too much insulin for a skinny teen!

I didn’t want to be seen as different, I hid T1 from my life as much as I could, I would only ever inject in private and didn’t want to know about it as much as I didn’t want people to know I had it. This really was a complete car crash in how to manage Type 1 Diabetes.

In my late teens and early 20s not a great deal had changed. I was still hiding my diabetes as much as I possibly could, and it was still affecting my life in a negative way. I would tell anybody who absolutely needed to know that I was Type 1 such as employers but apart from that I was still very shy and reclusive about talking about it, showing any sign of it in public or acting on it in public. I have way too many hypo stories from this age bracket and I’m going to explain a couple of the most ridiculous. I say ridiculous in the sense of looking back now and realising how different things could have been had I been more open about having Type 1 Diabetes, of course at that age I still wanted to be seen as ‘normal’, I was just the same as everybody else….I was invincible! Mentally I wasn’t strong enough to accept I had diabetes. When I was around 19 years old a good friend of mine was managing the local Domino’s Pizza, he’d offered me some delivery work at weekends which was ideal for a bit of extra cash. I was getting on fine with these deliveries but recall one specifically. I was driving to do the delivery but suddenly realised my glucose was dropping very low and very quickly. I never carried any hypo treatments with me in those days, I didn’t want to be different and have people question why I was carrying sweets or glucose tablets. I was struggling to find the address for this delivery because I was going hypo and having no treatments on me the only option, I had was to start eating the delivery myself. I tucked into some of the breaded chicken wing type things which really are a terrible hypo treatment as they’re a very slow release carb and that’s just on the breaded part…I had no other option though it was a case of needs must! I waited around for a little while, found the address and delivered the food, I don’t believe any complaint was made about the box of chicken wings being a few short! Looking back that was an utterly absurd moment for myself as a human, I could have dealt with that so much easier if I’d had hypo treatments in my car or on me, still fighting that mental battle of not giving diabetes the respect it needs of course I didn’t take that easy option. Going into my 20s I still had battles with myself against diabetes. It became a battle, me verses it. I’d have hypos on nights out and am incredibly grateful to the wonderful group of friends I have around me as I’ve been helped on many occasion, I’d have hypos during games of football, I’d have hypos during work, to put it simply I could have a hypo any time through lack of care. It was type 1 diabetes that ‘thing’ I refused to accept. I’m sure during these times I had many, many hypers (high blood sugars) too but of course these are less noticeable and as I wasn’t prepared to give diabetes attention, I wasn’t testing so I wouldn’t know what my levels were. In my head I thought the way to ‘win’ verses diabetes was to simply ignore it! I’m very sorry to say that on three or four occasions I’d had hypos where ambulances had needed to be called and paramedics would ‘save’ me. I always apologised profusely to them once I’d come round and felt very guilty that tax payer money was being wasted on me purely because I wasn’t strong enough mentally to accept I had a condition which needed care from myself.

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In my mid 20s I had attended the regular diabetic retinopathy screening (photos to look for potential nerve damage in the back of your eyes) at my local hospital and later received a letter to say that I had the very early stages of retinopathy. This was my first encounter with any potential complication from diabetes and I became very worried. My eyesight has always been very good so to receive that was a huge shock and a big wake-up call that I must now start taking care of my diabetes. Losing my sight at such a young age was something I didn’t even want to consider. I did some research online and spoke to some other T1s I’d found online who had had the same letter and was advised that it was nothing to worry about too much as it was a generic letter sent if you had even one slightly enlarged blood vessel in the back of your eye. All you can do is keep good control and things shouldn’t progress any further. This was my first engagement with the Diabetes Online Community (#GBdoc #doc) and I was so pleased that I’d done that. This was the first time I’d ever had any contact with any other person with Type 1 and it had helped me a lot, talking about diabetes was something I’d never done before.

Just after this I’d seen posts from a guy called Chris Bright looking for people who were Type 1 and also played football. This was ideal for me as I met both criteria massively. I was a Type 1 diabetic and a football nut! I’d messaged Chris a few times and discussed his plans with starting TDFC and was thrilled when there were enough people and interest for us all to meet in person over at the now base, University of Worcester. I was quite nervous and really wasn’t sure what to expect but set off early morning and got myself over to Worcester. There were around 19 in attendance and after some introductions in one of the meeting rooms we got into the sports hall and began a well-coached session. Other than a work colleague from my early 20s I’d never had a conversation with another T1 before let alone played football with one! This isn’t an over the top saying but this day felt like the first day of the rest of my life. I’d had so many conversations with so many different people about diabetes, something I’d never ever done before. I was no longer alone, I had a support network, there were other people out there just like me, they loved football and also had Type 1 Diabetes. There were also some sections of the media in attendance and I’d ended up doing an interview for the BBC which later appeared on their Facebook page! In the space of a day I’ve gone from seeing diabetes as the enemy, something I’d let hold me back in life both mentally and physically to engaging with it for the first time and speaking openly to a TV camera & journalist regarding it! The clip itself has had over 9,000 views which still shocks me to this day, you can catch it yourself here – https://www.facebook.com/bbcherefordandworcester/videos/2003662723039459/

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Driving home from that session I felt so infused, I’d learnt so much, met some great people and taken in so much information about how I can manage my diabetes better. This started an overhaul for me with the condition. I was still on the mixed insulin, the same stuff I was given on diagnosis day 18 years ago and had now seen first-hand that life would be so much better changing this. I did this and noticed a difference immediately. My control was better, I was aware of new technologies to track blood glucose which made it easier to track hypos and generally manage my condition better. I genuinely could not speak highly enough of what this session did for me. For the first time ever, I was comfortable being diabetic. I would inject in public, I would talk and engage about the condition rather than just ignore it, I would seek to improve wherever I could. Anybody new coming into my life I would make aware very quickly that I was a Type 1 Diabetic, this really was a watershed moment for me. I’d now taken control of a condition which for many years had completely taken control of me.

We had further meet-ups and training sessions with The Diabetes Football Community and I loved these sessions, great friends were made amongst the group we and we all loved the fact we were in the company of other Type 1s. We were lucky enough to be able to represent the UK at DiaEuro in 2018 and 2019, I was very fortunate to be selected in both of these squads and that for me was incredible. I was now being selected on a national level for an international sporting competition for people with Type 1 Diabetes. Three years ago, I refused to accept I had the condition, now I’m representing my country with it! Spending a week in Bratislava in 2018 and a week in Kiev in 2019 with the squad competing for the UK helped my mental health massively. I was with other T1s 24/7, seeing how they lived their lives with the condition, what could I learn, what could I do differently as well as playing futsal and having a lot of fun.

To summarise my relationship with Type 1 Diabetes since getting involved with TDFC would be quite hard to put into words. I love football/futsal but it’s completely changed my life for the better regardless of the sport. I’m happy injecting anywhere now, I’ve done injections on the Tube platforms in London, I’ve done injections on planes, I’m completely open with everybody I know and meet about my diabetes and I discuss my diabetes. Friends I’ve had for 10-20 years plus have also commented on what a positive change it’s been for me. I’ve even had the privilege of meeting a younger Type 1, Ollie Carr and having a really good chat with him and his mum about the condition. If someone had told me four or five years ago I’d be publicly speaking about my diabetes and going around others houses to do the same I’d be shocked, I’m so pleased this happened though. It felt incredibly fulfilling to pass my knowledge and information on how I manage T1 and sports to a young family.

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I’ve met many other T1s through the online community and also been involved in some T1 running events which is something I’ve really gotten into over the last year. I took part in an attempt via Paul Coker and OneBloodyDrop to break a world record for the most people with Type 1 Diabetes at the Swansea Half Marathon, I somehow finished the first finisher out of the Type 1’s with virtually no specific running training and this gave me a real boost to take up running more seriously. I’ve ran with other Type 1s outside of that event and met some other amazing people through running (as well as ran with amazing people!), my diabetes has never been so well controlled because of this too. If I’d never got involved with TDFC I’m not sure I would have taken up running too so it’s another massive positive for me.

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To sum up I’m proud of who I am now, I’m proud that I control the condition rather than it controlling me and I’m very happy to have met so many amazing people through TDFC. If it was not for these people and having that community, I’m not sure I’d be here today. It’s given me opportunities I never thought I’d have but most of all it’s made me a better, healthier (both mentally and physically) person and that for me is absolutely priceless.

It’s good to talk.”

Rob Fletcher: A recent Diagnosis Story

Posted on by thediabetesfootballcommunity in Biography, diabetes, Football, sport

I’m Rob Fletcher, and I wanted to write down some thoughts from the beginning of my diabetes journey. I see a lot of people (especially with-it being Diabetes Week recently) sharing their long-term experiences and what has changed for them in how they manage themselves and their condition, but very little from people who are just starting out on this. It may be because like I did, people think they don’t have a lot to share, but maybe that is what needs sharing sometimes. So, here’s my journey so far (I may get carried away and make this into an essay – I’ve never actually put this down anywhere).

In the summer of 2018, there were signals that I didn’t pick up, they may have been related to diabetes, they may not (and I’ll never know for sure) but they were some of the tell-tale signs. I needed the loo a little more regularly and long drives were really hard to manage due to toilet breaks. However, it was that autumn when things got a bit more serious for me.

I am a primary school teacher, and in September 2018 I started to feel exhausted after every day. This felt almost expected, autumn term is tough, and I had a few big school events I was responsible for organising and running. I was 31 – maybe it was just a sign of getting old, maybe I was working a bit hard, maybe it was working with a different group of children – I am excellent at finding excuses for things, especially if my excuses mean that ‘nothing is really the matter’. As we rolled into October my half an hour walk to work was taking between 45 minutes to an hour. I was starting to get little cramps and I needed the toilet a lot, I could rarely make it through a lesson. At this point I no longer thought it was stress but maybe a urine infection or a virus of some kind. My wife was telling me I should go to the doctor, but I guess I didn’t want to hear what they may say so I convinced myself that I would be fine, my parents wanted me to go to a doctor but I palmed them off with my self-convinced nonchalance.

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My vision had become blurred, it felt like I was walking through treacle, my urine had begun to smell so bad that I believed we might have a problem with our drains. I felt awful. I had a job interview in this period, so the fact that I couldn’t stop sweating must have been down to my nerves right? On October 10th (My school was doing Book Day), dressed as Fantastic Mr Fox, I was teaching sat on some cardboard boxes at the front of my class, I couldn’t find the energy in me to stand up, and this was unlike me – I love to throw myself into my teaching and around my classroom. My TA at the time noticed all this and got the assistant head to come who quickly sent me home. Even at this point I was in denial, “I’m sure it’s nothing!” I told my wife as she went to work on Thursday morning, she told me in no uncertain terms that if I didn’t go to the dr that day there would be trouble! I got my appointment and off I trudged.

The dr gave me a urine test, took one look at it and told me that he normally would say that he thinks it could be this, but in my case,  he was absolutely certain – “You have diabetes.” I was walking distance from the hospital so I trudged off round the corner explained who I was (the dr called ahead) to reception, called my wife, and before I could sit down they called me through.

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The next part of this feels very blurry looking back. I remember my wife arriving, and I remember all the staff being very concerned, I had blood sugars of 37 and ketones of 7, I was in DKA. The hospital staff told me they hadn’t seen someone with my bloodwork conscious before. I remember my wife looking scared.

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To cut the scary part of this experience short I spent 3 days in hospital getting my sugars settled and learning how to inject myself and check my levels and generally how to manage type 1 diabetes. Then I started what feels like a totally different phase of life. Genuinely nothing seems the same.

 

In terms of diet I changed very little, I had been a vegan for about 10 months at this point, the dietician told me I didn’t need to counter for most of my diet just processed carbs and root veg. I changed out white potato for sweet potato, white rice for brown rice (the internet said it was a good idea) and I went about managing what I knew was the rest of my life. I recall people saying they wouldn’t be able to do it, or that they were very surprised with how well I was taking it, but for me I didn’t have a choice so I may as well do it in good spirits and determination. There were times I got it wrong, big nighttime hypos, pizza (that’s a mad one! I still don’t know how to handle pizza) there were frustrations, there were sore fingers but generally I got on with it.

I think it was as New Years rolled around that I started to feel the mental health effects of a life changing illness. I felt guilty about what my wife might have to go through (I think I still do a bit), I felt lonely, but I didn’t want to go and sit in a support group. I didn’t want to feel different, but I did feel different – every little head rush, every pins and needles, if I was tired or a bit giggly all felt like ‘that’s diabetes’. I became nostalgic for times before my diagnosis. I had got to thinking about playing football again, partly as nostalgia (I did well as a kid, then had played off and on since) but also to get back my fitness – this felt like something important as a diabetic.

It was by searching for diabetic football I got put in touch with Bryn who had just set up TDFC London playing futsal (I had never heard of futsal before – but I was up for learning). It has been, without doubt, the best part of being diabetic for me. I gained a ‘support group’ in London that was actually just a group of guys playing futsal, and I got to learn how to be a goalkeeper again (which I love). I’m quite shy and not ‘a lad’ so I kept myself back a bit from the group but took on as much information as I could, then the opportunity came to train with the UK diabetic futsal squad in Worcester. The car journey up 4 of us spoke the whole way about troubles, shared experiences and advice with each other. This and all of the future journeys was another chance to get to know these brilliant men and to learn about my condition. On top of that I got to play futsal at an even higher level. Chris Bright has to take so much credit for starting TDFC and putting together this incredible team of guys who care as much about each other as we do about futsal.

It was at one of the UK camps where I realised how far I had let my fitness slip. I love to have a target, so I booked myself onto a half marathon, raised money for Diabetes UK and almost a year to the day of my diagnosis with type 1 I ran my first half marathon. I genuinely couldn’t have been prouder of where I’d got to in my first 12 months of diabetes.

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There are so many things I have gained from playing with TDFC: a group of mates, a love of a new sport, better fitness, so much more knowledge of type 1 diabetes, I even got my freestyle libre based on advice from one of those car journeys. I still have frustrations, I am of course still learning – I find it hard to manage my meal spikes, but I am learning.

I have grown as a person due to this illness. I understand more about when people feel in denial, when people feel scared about the future, I feel so empowered when I meet a type 1 child who needs to talk to someone about it – I would never have had this without diabetes.

I am excited for the future: I am excited to overcome my future challenges, I am excited to play futsal (when we can again), I am excited to help other diabetics. Would I choose to have it, absolutely not. Am I scared of it, sometimes. Does it worry me everyday? Absolutely not, I am getting there slowly but surely.

Zak Brown (Diabetes Week 2020): Type 1, Travel, Teaching & TDFC

Posted on by thediabetesfootballcommunity in Biography, diabetes, Football, sport

I have been fortunate enough to experience living and travelling in many countries in the last 10 years since graduating from University. For anybody that is thinking of travelling, or moving to another country, you may find some of the experiences I am about to share useful. I must also stress that I am in no way a medical professional and any advice I give is purely based on my own opinions and experiences! Of course, the subject of football/futsal will feature too being a TDFC post…

As I prepared to embark on my teaching career, I took an opportunity to travel in the 8 months I had available before starting my Post-Graduate Certificate in Education. Thailand became my first choice of destination, as I saw a company offering a week-long introduction in Bangkok and a guaranteed job teaching English as a foreign language. I had also pre-arranged a spot on a summer camp in New York to do in the summer, so my plans were in place… Thailand January-April and USA May-August, then PGCE from September onwards.

Because I knew I was in Thailand for a set amount of time, I arranged a large prescription with my GP and got all the necessary jabs before travelling, which was a smooth and painless process. However, when it came to packing my backpack, I soon realised that my diabetes supplies were taking up about 75% of the space in my 65L backpack! So a tip from me is to remove as much packaging as you can – for example putting needles in a plastic wallet, as opposed to keeping them in their bulky box. That way, you still have a few clothes to be able to wear on your travels!

I could quite easily do a separate blog for each trip that I have done, but I will try to keep things brief. Thailand exceeded my expectations in every way possible and I was so reluctant to leave when it got to the end of April, but I knew I had the summer camp experience in USA to look forward to next.

Lessons learnt from Thailand regarding my type 1 diabetes… Humidity can definitely have an impact on blood glucose levels and because of the amazing street food culture in Thailand, it is much more difficult to count carbohydrates from something that is made freshly in front of you without any packaging to look at. Due to the heat and humidity, I found that even just putting a couple of units of insulin in for each meal would regulate my sugars pretty effectively. One benefit to the street food culture is that you’re never too far away from a hypo treatment! The other major challenge that I faced is not having a fridge in the apartment I was living in, so I just kept my insulin in the coolest, darkest place. The insulin still worked, but of course I keep it in the fridge whenever possible based on medical advice! The point here is that there are ways to adapt, even if everything isn’t how it usually is in the comfort of your own home or country.

Getting a waterproof bag is another piece of advice I would give – when you are going scuba diving or snorkeling you can be safe in the knowledge that your testing kit or electrical supplies won’t be flooded! They are cheap to buy in the street markets of Thailand too. Another reason why you’d need a waterproof bag is for Songkran – The festival to celebrate the Thai New Year. Held around mid-April, it consists of huge water fights through day and partying by night.

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A three-week transition period at home allowed me to order another large prescription for the supplies I would need in America and prepare my J1 visa which involved a day-trip to Belfast and back from Manchester. I was stoked when I arrived on camp to find another type 1 diabetic staying in the same bunk as me! Cole was from Pennsylvania and was in the circus department. He could do some unbelievable tricks juggling balls, batons and even knives. You could say it’s a nice metaphor for juggling his type 1 diabetes!

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In the midst of making memories during my travels, I made a big decision to postpone my place on the PGCE course I was due to start in September. I was loving life so much, that I wanted to experience more travel before settling down into a teaching career. Fortunately, the experiences in Thailand and USA were not at a detriment to my career and had actually provided some valuable teaching and coaching experiences outside my comfort zone. My sights were now on Australia, so I saved up working at my former Secondary School. Much of the preparation for the move to Australia was the same, cleverly squeezing my diabetes supplies into my backpack, leaving enough room for clothes.

However, the move to Sydney was more of a long-term one. I had no return date and was open to the idea of becoming a permanent resident if the Aussie lifestyle was too good to leave. That almost became a reality and I spent over 3 great years there. Joining a football team was an easy way to make new friends shortly after I arrived. I played for two different football teams over there, with the latter probably being my overall favourite experience being a part of a football club. Not only did we win the premier league that season and make the final 4 teams in the state of New South Wales, everyone in the team got on so well and I have never felt more comfortable being a diabetic in the changing rooms (other than TDFC where we are all diabetic!). In fact, 5 minutes before our grand final was about to start, I came down with a hypo and had used all the sugar I had brought with me. Luckily, a team-mate quickly grabbed some sweets and I was just about good to go when the whistle went for kick-off. That small gesture meant that I could play the full game, winning 3-0 and be given Man of the Match.

I first came into contact with Chris Bright from TDFC whilst out in Sydney. Having seen a Facebook post stating that they were on the lookout for players to represent United Kingdom at DiaEuro, I was determined to grab that opportunity! Having represented UK at the Junior Diabetes Cup in 2009/10, I understood how great the experience was to represent country and condition – and knowing that everybody on that field goes through the same challenges as me every day.

Not being able to train with TDFC back home in the build up wasn’t ideal, but luckily I was playing futsal on a regular basis by this point. A friend of mine in Sydney, Shane Watson knows just about everyone and everything futsal related in Sydney. From our football connections, we had a team of friends competing in leagues and tournaments. Although futsal is now really taking off in the UK, many of the TDFC team hadn’t played much futsal by the time we arrived in Bratislava 2018. Details of how that tournament went are in a previous blog here.

Picture 5 DiaEuro

Flying back home to play in DiaEuro is worth it for so many reasons for me. Playing in a futsal competition with elite players, sharing knowledge and experience around managing type 1 diabetes with team-mates, having access to the latest diabetes technology through our sponsors Dexcom and of course seeing my family and friends!

Back to the travelling aspect of living with type 1… It was straightforward for me to access my diabetes supplies at a reasonable cost in Australia. They have a National Diabetes Service Scheme (NDSS) allowing access to diabetes supplies at reduced costs. Insulin was prescribed through my registered GP in Sydney and it would cost me around $40 for a 6 month supply of insulin. Taking into account that I use two types of insulin and go through a 50 box of test strips per week, it would cost me around $500 per year for my diabetes supplies. Whenever I did return to the UK, I would get a large prescription of supplies to take back out with me and would be lucky to have the Dexcom G6 to use from DiaEuro too. Australia has a reciprocal healthcare agreement with UK, so I would encourage anyone who works over there to register for Medicare, which is open for everyone, not just type 1 diabetics.

Picture 6 Aussie Card

I am now living in Wellington, New Zealand. Things here are a little more difficult as a type 1, as there is only one brand of test strips that are funded, so I have changed testing kits for the first time in over 10 years! Due to my visa status, I don’t currently get reduced costs for my test strips or insulin, so I would estimate that it costs around $2000 for my diabetes supplies here annually until I get permanent residency – then the costs would go right down to less than $200 for the year. Due to covid-19, I won’t be going home this year and DiaEuro is also postponed, so I am just taking the financial hit on the chin and I’m looking forward to the day where I can say I am a permanent resident of New Zealand!

All of this makes me realise how lucky we are to have the NHS in the UK – as citizens of so many other countries around the world face the added financial cost of living with type 1 diabetes.

However, to finish on a positive note, there is no reason why you cannot travel the world living with type 1! A little extra preparation and organisation can go a long way. I am currently watching Race Across The World on TV, which features one contestant with type 1 diabetes and it’s great to see somebody else showing that diabetes will not stop us!

If anybody has any questions about travelling or moving countries, I would be happy to help and chat further. Feel free to e-mail me at zakdlbrown@gmail.com

Mo’s Lockdown Story (Diabetes Week 2020)

Posted on by thediabetesfootballcommunity in diabetes, Football, sport

How’s lockdown been for you?

I’ve found it tough. As someone who is always out and about playing sport and meeting people, I’ve had to outsource all of that to whatsapp chats. Really miss seeing people in person. I guess I’ll cherish the moments more when this is over!!!

How have you managed to cope?

I guess I’m lucky I work in healthcare, so my routine hasn’t changed much. Though being a diabetic meant that my job was a bit restricted which did frustrate me. However, I feel happy to be part of the solution during the coronavirus pandemic as it gives you a sense of purpose and togetherness at work. 

Outside of work, I’ve tried to occupy myself watching stuff, upskilling and playing a really active role in the diabetes online community. I think social networks are priceless at this point in time. The mental support, practical advice, positive distractions, sentiments of encouragement and also knowing you’re not alone are invaluable. 

The diabetes online community has been really good at keeping us informed and occupied. The diabetes 101 twitter initiative is really good. The patient-run facebook diabetes support groups have been really supportive too. 

TDFC has been doing loads as well. I think we’ve seen Dinngy’s nutmeg video more times than I’ve actually seen him kick a ball! Also really enjoyed Chris Bright’s interviews in IG, but mostly appreciated the support from the lads. We’ve also got a lot of new additions and the banter is class! It says a lot about TDFC when we have people from different professions sharing useful advice and tips (both about diabetes and daily life).

Though I must admit my physical health hasn’t been as good as I don’t exercise as much as before the lockdown.

IMG_20190526_115802

Regarding working during this period, were you ever worried or concerned about your personal health? 

What did worry me at the beginning was the lack of clarity on shielding and social distancing for diabetics. 

Fortunately this got better over time. Also within the healthcare sector, advice was changing everyday as new evidence and guidance came out. 

I took a very cautious approach to protect me and family. My managers were very supportive which was a bonus. 

Fortunately my diabetes team is very good and so it was also reassuring to know that they were only a phone call away if I needed them. 

The only real worry was the constant change and adaptation. However I learnt to appreciate that this was brand new for everyone, including the experts. I therefore decided to step back and take it day by day. 

How has it impacted your diabetes?

We know everything from the weather to the mood you’re in has an impact! From a physical point of view, I’ve had to up my insulin requirements as I’ve decreased the amount of exercise I do. I’m eating out less, so I can plan meals better, which has helped.

My sleep patterns have also changed, so meals are at different times. I’ve had to increase my insulin to carb ratios at dinner time to compensate.

The month of Ramadhan started in lockdown. I understand this is your first year fasting in your life. How has that been?

Firstly, I just want to highlight that current medical advice does not recommend fasting if you’re  a T1 diabetic as the risks of hypos, DKA and dehydration are a lot higher. Having said that, I have an artificial pancreas system and am taking part in a voluntary trial. I wanted to appreciate the sacrifices people make, remember those less fortunate, see the health benefits and also help improve diabetes care by providing my data.

I’ve really missed the social aspect of it, as I used to volunteer during the month of Ramadhan and also spend loads of time with friends in the evenings.

It’s been challenging physically too, as I’ve stopped all sports to prevent massive variation in my blood glucose which may cause me to break my fast. Fasting whilst playing sport may be something I can work on towards the end of the month, or maybe next year!

In my 28 years as a T1, I’ve never fasted for more than a day before. So far this month, I’ve had to break 2 fasts as I hypoed. They’ve been good learning points and I’m slowly adjusting my ratios and insulin. The first week was really tiring, surprisingly it’s gotten better over time, even though the fasts have got longer as the days have gone on. 

A few months back I had a really good discussion with Scott Burrell about how long fast acting insulin lasts in your body. I’ve learnt a lot from people’s experiences and have tried to implement them into my management.

Overall good so far, but I think I’ll only continue if it’s safe to do so. I’m extremely grateful for the tech we have now, the support and the expert advice that’s available.

Thinking forward, are you worried about how society will pick up after lockdown?

I always take the mindset that you should only focus on what you can influence. Our world has changed and will continue changing as a result of the pandemic. The things I can’t wait for are getting back into kicking a ball, meeting up with friends and family, travelling and eating out.

I think the biggest thing we’ve learnt is how important we are to each other as a community of human beings. I hope the help and support people have provided carries on after the lockdown.

 

Some thoughts during this time of challenge & Social Distancing…

Posted on by thediabetesfootballcommunity in Football

PLEASE BE ADVISED – Before reading any further that this post is not sanctioned by a healthcare professional and is our interpretation and effort to provide peer support at a time of need.

We have all seen, read the news, listened to the sound bites on “Unprecedented Times” and found interesting ways of using our toilet rolls!

Even after only a few days the strain of social distancing is already beginning to show.

So, what is the risk and how can we, as people living with diabetes ensure the coming weeks or months are a time of growth, reflection and shared personal and common goals.

Current reports indicate that illness, in approximately 80% of individuals is generally mild, especially for children and young adults. In most cases, those who contract the virus recover from the disease without needing special treatment.

But we are not in the 80%, with underlying medical problems like diabetes, we are at an increased risk of developing a serious illness. It is estimated that approximately 1 out of every 6 people who gets COVID-19 becomes seriously ill and develops difficulty breathing. People with a fever, cough and difficulty breathing should seek medical attention.

There is some great information available at the link below and even a story of a person with type one who is now fully recovered from COVID-19.

Over the previous three years of being a part of the Diabetes Football Community I have gained support and knowledge from the people involved from my insulin use, diet and exercise to just banter to get you through some of the lows (not that type) that we all suffer.

I am privileged to say that yet again the community has stepped up to the mark and delivered amazing support and information to help all involved understand and take actions to help them at this bizarre period of our history.

It’s been the simple sharing of a link to more information be it financial support (the guardian has written a good article here or if you require guidance on mortgage breaks Zoopla has an interesting guide here ) to FIFA tournaments, toilet roll juggling and simple chat and support offered. I am blown away by the people involved and the community is better than Google at getting the info you need. It’s been unbelievable!

Eat well, test your blood glucose regularly, reduce stress in any way you can and get plenty of sleep, all can help you with blood glucose control. If you have symptoms such as a cough, high temperature and feeling short of breath, you need to monitor your blood glucose closely and call the NHS 111 phone service.

With this in mind, and from my coaching and development background I hope to help the people I now call friends and the wider community to deal with COVID-19 on daily basis and come out of it stronger.

I hope the high 5 helps!

 

I’m used to working from home, but being told I have to I’m rubbish at, when I’m told that I need to stay home, anxiety rises, stress takes over (add two bored kids to the mix aghhhhh). I know this, and so I’m trying to think how I can cope. I am sure you are on the same wavelength to.

This HIGH 5 (based on the 5 ways to wellbeing) can help you with your mental, emotional and physical wellbeing.

How can we bring them to life?

Connect

As I said before the TDFC community has been a lifeline, knowing others share my worries and concerns is cathartic but knowing I can drop a message ask a question, share a joke or share some knowledge, that sense of belonging is a must. If you want to join contact Chris Bright, he’s sure to hook you up. Be more creative in how you are connecting, but still connect. Don’t hunt out the constant updates, take time out, with work colleagues, of course discuss business but meet regularly and share, ask how people are, it makes a difference.

Events are moving to online. If you haven’t been able to get to a social event or catch up with friends now could be the time, reaching out could make you and a contact’s day.

At home, arrange virtual family Pub Quizzes, connect with the people you live with, social distancing is cutting us off from the world so you don’t burn out disconnect on line have more conversations over mealtimes, bizarrely, we are all coming together at 5pm to watch the news update.

We’re working together at home, talking about our work and our day.

Communities are coming together, clapping on balconies, reaching out and offering help. Get involved.

Give

There are so many ways to give, with more springing up every day. Write a blog offering advice/ guidance, arrange online shops for food banks who are facing all-time lows in supplies and stocks. Why not try and provide help to neighbours, friends, colleagues, contacts and connections.

As a community TDFC are reaching out to all we can and many, many others are doing the same. Offers of meals for kids following school closures, music, online yoga, online music classes, online performances, online book clubs.

With the exercise try GMB fitness to add some activity to your morning routine

We are giving of ourselves and our skills to help others, and to stop us from being bored.

Give just one item to a food bank, give some time to a neighbour, give your attention to your team or a family member.

Take Notice

We are starting to pay more attention to what really matters in life. We are starting to take more notice of our teams, and our families and our neighbours.

We are noticing more of the changes outside, the changes inside. We are paying more attention to how we feel and how others feel, and we are using this to connect more to one another.

We are noticing what we like, what we don’t like and what we need to change.

Keep doing it as every day is an opportunity to develop and learn, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got” Take this opportunity to develop learn and do something differently.

Keep Learning

There are so many things we can learn and so many ways we can grow. YouTube, online learning, books, courses, podcasts, all the things that we’ve never had time to do, we can now do, even if it’s just to break the monotony of the day.

Someone on Twitter said, “at the end of this we’ll either be alcoholics or master chefs”! Be a master chef.

I’m struggling to get my boys to come to terms that this isn’t going to be a time of constant Xbox. What will happen is there will be daddy boot camp and footy sessions coming their way along with Mum’s arts and craft sessions, but we’ll get there. Dads know best right?

Stay Active

Keep moving, in whatever way you can. Walk where you can. Do online classes I know my boy’s martial arts classes and football coaching are delivering online coaching and masterclasses (I know I’m delivering some, drop me an email if you want to get involved, you just need a football)

Create your own circuit training in the house get involved in the TDFC toilet roll keepie uppie challenge. Just film yourself doing a few skillz and post it to TDFC

If all else fails, reach out, shout, or scream.

Then just stop and breathe and reflect.

We’ve got this.

 

Tim Ward

t.ward@salford.ac.uk

Sources of information:

https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses  https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/common-questions/

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-action-plan/coronavirus-action-plan-a-guide-to-what-you-can-expect-across-the-uk

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/your-guide-to-the-coronavirus-should-i-be-worried/

TDFC Statement (Corona Virus 2020)

Posted on by thediabetesfootballcommunity in diabetes, Football, sport

Firstly, I never thought I’d have to write a statement like this to address a world pandemic but on March 17th2020 that is reluctantly what I’m having to do.

Unity, community and togetherness are the words which TDFC embodies on a daily basis and more than ever we need this right now in the face of the global challenge we have ahead of us….

As the Corona Virus pandemic continues to grow and the world changes its approach every day, I write to you from an ever-changing United Kingdom landscape which has seen drastic measures beginning their introduction into our everyday lives from today.

As an at risk group of people I was fully aware of our responsibility as a community organisation to support and make the right decisions for everyone involved which is why I’m reluctantly pulling together this post.

It is therefore, with sadness we are announcing that no physical TDFC projects will take place for a minimum of 3 months to cover the 12-week social distancing advisory from the UK Government. We will not be delivering any training or education in person during this time for children and adults with diabetes. We had a children’s session in planning for Bristol, our UK men’s team training for DiaEuro, a women’s team on the cusp of creating their first session as well as the launch of our TDFC N/W hub and the growth of TDFC London towards competitive Football/Futsal again this year. This 3-month period may be extended depending upon government advice as things change so rapidly at the moment, but we felt we needed to address the situation.

However, in the greatest adversity I want to call for unity, togetherness and for our COMMUNITY to be just that, a community! We all need each other right now and the beauty of TDFC is that it was brought about through the online space, so guess what, we’re still here and we will still be doing our best to provide positivity and content which provides support, guidance and inspiration. We’re going to need each other to help us have fun throughout this period so let’s do our best to do this too! The team and I will be looking at ways we can provide that so please get in touch if you have any ideas!

During these most challenging times, stick together, be kind and please remember we are here for you all.

Stay Safe.

Chris (Founder of The Diabetes Football Community)

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness… only the light can!”

Let’s be the light we all need.

PS – please keep up to date with Public Health Advice ( https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people/guidance-on-social-distancing-for-everyone-in-the-uk-and-protecting-older-people-and-vulnerable-adults, this is for England where we are registered) and take every precaution possible to keep yourself safe with hand washing being absolutely paramount. Please also see the picture regarding what social distancing means for adults with Diabetes across these next 3 months.

IMG_4468

FA Wales Interview on Type 1 Diabetes: Chris Bright’s Story

Posted on by thediabetesfootballcommunity in Biography, diabetes, Football, sport

 

It was a dream I never thought I’d realise after my diagnosis with Type 1 Diabetes in 1999. Despite its challenges, I never let the condition affect my drive and determination to push as hard as I could to play at the highest level.  Fast forward 3 years from my first competitive Futsal game in 2013, that dream I never thought would be possible happened, as I played for my country for the first time. It’s been the greatest individual honour of my life representing Wales in Futsal and I’ll never forget the memories or opportunities I’ve had to pull on the shirt. I hope there will be a few more appearances to come in the future, as I’m far from done with my sport, but with the release of this interview it’s the perfect time to reflect on how amazing it’s been to play at that level.

I’m delighted that the Wales FA have showcased my story to the national team with my condition in the hope that it inspires and provides comfort to others living with type 1 diabetes across Wales and more widely than that. Having them put this together in this way is a big deal to me. It feels like a huge amount of backing and support from my national team & governing body that demonstrates an advocation of type 1 diabetes within our sport. I believe this is the first time I’ve ever seen a Football Association in the United Kingdom showcase the condition in this way and I’m beyond honoured it was my country and my story chosen to do it. I can’t say thank you enough to the Welsh FA, Rob Dowling, Chris Foot, Laurence Mora and Luc Daley (from Eat Sleep Media) in particular for helping to pull this together. It means a lot to me and I’m hoping it’ll do a lot of good as well!

More than anything I just want media like this to continue to be a catalyst for more conversation, more awareness and more support for people with Diabetes involved in Football and more widely within sport. If we say nothing, nothing changes.

I hope you like it and please give it a share…. You never know who might see it.

Chris

Managing Type 1 Diabetes for Football & Futsal in 2020…

Posted on by thediabetesfootballcommunity in conference, diabetes, Football

The new year is always a chance to take a fresh look at things and alter the path or journey we’re on…. At the start of every year I try to look at the context I’m surrounded by and set myself new goals or challenges which drive my motivation for what’s ahead.

But what I thought I’d do, to help some of you out there who might be thinking about starting a journey with Football/Futsal & Type 1 Diabetes or taking it up a level, is give you some insight around how I manage my condition. 2019 was a pretty good year for me with my sport so it’s probably a good time to share with you some of the ways I go about trying to get the best from my glucose levels to allow me to play to the best of my ability.

So I thought I’d outline some of the ideas, most of which I shared at the #SporT1Day conference, to hopefully provide some insight and support to anyone out there who might need it.

Here’s my general thoughts on what I try to do or think about for my management before any sport or exercise:

  • A plan of how to approach the sport/exercise/game – What type of exercise is it (interval, aerobic, anaerobic etc)? Intensity? Duration? Time of day? Timing of meals? Last Bolus?
  • Consistency of Routine – If it’s working, I keep using it.
  • Good night’s sleep.
  • Plenty of time between pre match meal insulin dose and starting the game (3 hours + ideally)
  • Lots of Testing – As much as you can or utilising a CGM such as the Dexcom G6 which has been the best I’ve used so far. This way you can learn about the effects of types of exercises, intensities, durations etc on your glucose levels.
  • Small adjustments of insulin & carbs to try and find the right glucose level for your best performance or for you to just enjoy it.
  • I aim for 7-8 mmols throughout the duration of any game to try and achieve my best performances.
  • Having my quick acting hypo treatments and insulin available and accessible for any adjustment I might need.
  • Consider the weather… Is it cold or hot? They usually play a part in how our glucose levels respond.
  • Am I in good general health? Have I been ill recently? Can play a part in less predictable glucose levels.
  • Keeping on top of my hydration… I find my levels drop more quickly if I’m dehydrated.
  •  Stress Levels – Do I feel nervous? Am I calm? Sometimes bigger games cause a bigger adrenaline spike in glucose levels. Do I need to account for this?
  • Have I fuelled up well before the exercise? Have I eaten enough calories/carbs in general for the energy I’m going to expend.
  • Always consider how much activity you’ve been doing around the particular sport or exercise you’re about to take part in, because the more active you are, the more sensitive to insulin you are!

Below are some of the generic details about my day to day management…

• My daily carb intake is around 180g. ( + or – depending on activity levels). I’m on MDI and CGM, No pump.
• Carb Ratios are roughly 1:15 g breakfast, 1:10g lunch, 1:7.5 g for dinner.
Much of what I’ve said above is linked to a generic way I tackle my Football or Futsal but there are some subtle differences I employ between the two because the intensity of the two sports is very different. This has a drastic impact on the reaction of my glucose levels and the way I manage them during and afterwards especially. So I’ll show you some of the key differences below:
Football (Example is preparation towards a Saturday 3pm Kick Off)
  • Aiming to be 7-8mmols to start the game and throughout.
  • Ensuring my pre-game meal & bolus is 3 hours before kick off.
  • Reducing pre-game meal bolus by roughly 10%.
  • Half time testing and adjusting based on level. If I’m below 9mmols I’ll take on 10g of carbs to cater for the second half dip and even more if my levels are below 5mmols. These choices very much depend on length of time you’re going to play and how hard the game is. If it’s a tough game with a lot of chasing then I sometimes have an extra 5-10g of carbs. If I’m over 13mmols I’ll take on a unit of insulin.
  • Post game meal I reduce my bolus by 25-50% depending on how much I’ve played and the intensity of the game.
  • I try to make my post-game meal both full of protein and carbohydrate to help with the recovery of glycogen stores and muscle growth/repair.
  • I will have a bed-time snack of 10-15g without a bolus to try and alleviate the nocturnal hypo risk. (If I’ve played a whole 90 minutes, I’ll scale all of this back if I’ve played less than that)
  • I don’t adjust my basal insulin because I use Tresiba, which is an ultra-long acting insulin and this will have no effect on my risk of a nocturnal hypo.

Futsal

  • I like to start the game at 5mmols if I can, because despite being lower,  I’m still likely to need a small bolus before the game or at half time to manage my levels rising as a result of the higher intensity and expected spike.
  • Because of the roll on, roll off substitutions within Futsal, there’s a lot more opportunity for adjustment. So I always come off from the court and immediately check my CGM and look for the trend arrows and glucose level.
  • I always tend to carry a bit of short acting insulin in my system because for me within Futsal, knowing I have frequent breaks and the likely impact of the intensity (levels rising), I’d rather be lower and taking on some glucose, as it reacts quicker than my insulin, than being too high and waiting for my insulin to kick in. The important factor for me is having a glucose level which allows for performance, not the number of adjustments I have to make.
  • I will always have a protein bar/snack post game of around 20g of carbs because I tend to have a sharp drop in my levels post game. Probably as a result of carrying short – acting insulin during my sport and the intensity.
  • I don’t make any bolus adjustments post – game to my meals. Again I’ll eat a meal heavy in protein and carbohydrate.
  • No basal adjustments as a result of using tresiba.
  • If I want a bed-time snack I’ll bolus for it with a small reduction of 25%.
Wales vs Northern Ireland - 2019 Home Nations Match 1 -62
I really hope that this is a useful post for people out there trying to tackle football or futsal for the first time, or who might be finding it challenging currently. If something from this article helps someone out there get more from their performance or just allows them to enjoy it more I’ll be happy!! Please give it a share if you can because I’m sure you’ll know someone who may also find this useful.
I’ve also added my slides from the #SporT1Day Conference to the bottom of this post if you wanted to see what I shared on the day, which also has much of this detail in.
Thanks for reading and I wish you all a happy and healthy new year! Please also be aware of the below disclaimer.
Chris
Disclaimer – Always remember that this a personal perspective and is not endorsed by a medical professional. So any advice or ideas you take from this post is at your own risk and should always be cleared by your diabetes team. 

Chris Bright Presentation 2019 ( #SporT1Day Conference )

A look back on 2019 at TDFC…

Posted on by thediabetesfootballcommunity in diabetes, Football, sport

It’s been some year…

We’ve had some incredible things going on within the TDFC family during 2019 and I’m immensely proud of what we’ve achieved together.

For the last couple of years I’ve written a blog to try and summarise the progress that we’ve made during the previous year because as much as I firmly believe in focusing on the present, to ensure we don’t stand still, it’s also important to celebrate and remind ourselves of the successes along the way.

Firstly, I want to say a massive thank you to everyone who helps to make this community what it is. Those who’ve stepped forward to lead on particular projects and areas which needed support I’ll never be able to thank you enough. You know who you are and I hope you’ve enjoyed the opportunity to take our community to the next level. We don’t stop there though…. 2020 has so many exciting ideas that we need our current team and others to step forward to make it happen.

Before I start recapping, I’d like to say a big thank you to our sponsors Dexcom, Lift, JL property solutions ltd and our close partner the University of Worcester. Without your support none of what we’ve done in 2019 would’ve been possible. Thank you for everything and I hope we can continue what we’ve started as we enter 2020 and the next decade.

Now, I’ll try and talk about some of the big moments in order of how they happened throughout 2019….

So, to kick it off we had the beginnings of TDFC London. It is our affiliated project that takes the ethos & ideology of what TDFC is all about and localises it to the area of London. Having come up with the idea for this alongside Bryn during DiaEuro 2018 it was amazing to get this off the ground in February 2019. This was the first ever all type 1 futsal or football team to take part in a mainstream Futsal league when we entered the London Futsal League in May 2019. An amazing statement which I know the boys are extremely proud of. It was a special moment seeing the lads take on this enormous challenge. I was just delighted I could be a part of 2 of the 3 wins TDFC London picked up in their first season! The first time I was involved in a win was momentous, not only because of the statement it makes, but because we did it against another disability team. We played against a deaf team, which was another bit of history, having our 2 teams battle it out in a mainstream futsal league. It’s been a fantastic start for this project and as the numbers of people interested continues to grow it’s looking like a really exciting 2020. We must thank Havas Lynx for their support for the team in 2019 as we got the team off the ground. Make sure you visit our “Find Your Local Community” page if you’re interested in what they’re up to.

Alongside delivering our own projects we try our best to network at some of the diabetes events and projects across the country. We’ve grown the awareness of our community by attending these events and in 2019 we tried to ensure that we continue to reach further and engage with members of the community interested in our journey. Having our stand at Talking About Diabetes (TAD), the rise of the machines 2 (RoTM 2) and EXTOD (Exercise for Type One Diabetes) allowed us to do just that. It’s always amazing to get a feel for what’s going on in the community that supports us. We’ve been lucky enough to exhibit and share at conferences like these for the last 2 years and we’re very grateful for every chance we get to do this.

IMG_1319

With the unique nature of some of the work we’ve had the pleasure of creating, we’ve also had more interest than ever in coming to take a look at what we’ve been up to in 2019.  This has led to some amazing awareness for The Diabetes Football Community which we’ve all been incredibly proud of. I just want to mention a few which I think have captured the reason we exist, been seen by most people and have probably resonated furthest with the community.

When we spoke with Jonny Labey in the early part of 2019, it was a chance to show him what we were up to for his new Know Your Type vlog. So, we invited him along to one of our UK Diabetes Futsal Training days. Jonny is a former Eastenders actor, West End performer and was recently on The X Factor Celebrity series but the most important thing is obviously that he lives with type 1 diabetes too. We didn’t just get him in to film what we were up to and interview myself and the team, we had him playing as well!!! Jonny was top class on the day and got stuck into the friendly match we had planned. You can see the feature Jonny created on the below link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjAd0vXs5Gg

Then as we headed towards our big summer project, which aims to inspire and raise awareness of our condition we had another bit of great news in showcasing our work. So as our UK male Diabetes Futsal squad were preparing for Kiev, Ukraine and a week away at the DiaEuros (European Futsal Championship for people with diabetes, www.diaeuro.org), the local BBC Midlands Today team got in touch to come and feature the squad’s final training session. It was our first exposure on the Television…. I was made up for our project and all of the team involved. Showcasing what people with Diabetes can do in the form of our Futsal team goes some way to disproving many of the stereotypes and stigma which surrounds the word Diabetes, so to have our story shared to a mainstream audience on this scale was incredible. If you want to check it out look on the below link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SHg-Cobx-Q

Also, during the final days of build-up to DiaEuro we had the honour of having 2 England Cricket Legends announcing our squad for us… Again another fantastic piece of awareness for TDFC during the Cricket World Cup 2019. I know some of the lads were big cricket fans so to have these guys read out their names to represent the UK’s All Diabetes Futsal team was a huge honour for them before they’d even kicked a ball. A huge thank you to Michael Vaughan and Jimmy Anderson (And Tim Peach for organising it!) for doing this for the team and the project, it means a lot and will be something we all look back upon with our smile on our faces…. check it out below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsdsaqKzeSA

Then of course there was the experience of the tournament itself…. What a spectacle it is for diabetes. I wish more could be made of the journey, the teams and the showcase for the condition. It’s a special opportunity to represent your country and your condition…. One which I’ve had the pleasure of doing on 2 occasions now and with this team I hope I’ll be able to continue to do so in whatever capacity that is for a good while to come…. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to play forever!!!! I won’t talk too much about it as I wrote down my thoughts on the below blog post, but it’s without doubt one of the biggest highlights of 2019:

https://thediabetesfootballcommunity.com/2019/09/05/diaeuro-2019-perspective-chris-bright-player-coach-organiser/

As we arrived home from the championships, I knew something pretty big was also on the horizon but I was sworn to secrecy for at least 2/3 months prior to it happening…. A big moment for me, a big moment for TDFC but an even bigger moment for type 1 diabetes in sport & physical activity. Sport England in combination with the Richmond Group of charities had decided to create a national campaign to attempt to increase the numbers of people exercising whilst living with chronic health conditions. The #WeAreUndefeatable campaign is the first time in my lifetime I’ve seen a concerted effort to promote people living with health conditions into physical activity (Also the first time I’d seen anyone injecting insulin on TV!). For someone who’s always shared a love of exercise with my chronic health condition, this has been an incredibly long time in coming, but I’m so pleased that the emphasis is there and it’s had a national spotlight. I was obviously incredibly honoured to have been featured in the campaign, to represent Type 1 Diabetes, but for me it’s just another chance to change perceptions, stereotypes and the stigma I’ve faced in sport since the day I was diagnosed. My story embedded within the campaign is just a strand in the fabric of the overall picture of what’s happening. The winds of change are blowing and I believe our work is certainly contributing…. Thank you to all of the #WeAreUndefeatable team for doing such an amazing job with the campaign and my story. I do find it tough to watch… Talking about the pain I felt as a kid gets me every time but this creates the power within the message. My condition hasn’t stopped me from enjoying my sport and nor should it. I hope this comes across. If you want to check out the TV advert you can find it on the below link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_yydj6EvAY

And if anyone wanted to view my story as part of the campaign use the below link and make sure you check out www.weareundefeatable.co.uk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19T9M5944E4

Alongside our own pride in the work we do it’s also been amazing to receive our first award/accolade during 2019… It’s never something you set out to do when you begin a journey within a project like ours but nevertheless it’s incredibly humbling to receive an award in recognition of the hard work the project has put in. Earlier this year we received the Grassroots Project of The Year from the Worcestershire FA in acknowledgement of the impact we’re having across the county for Diabetes in Football. A list of the County’s award winners for 2019 can be found on the below link:

http://www.worcestershirefa.com/news/2019/may/23/the-fa-and-mcdonalds-grassroots-football-awards

Then finally, we had the incredible #SporT1Day 2019 conference held at the University of Worcester. Another massive highlight in the year as we work alongside 1BloodyDrop to create the only conference focussed on type 1 diabetes in sport and exercise, created by people living with the condition. It’s proven to be a huge success with many of the diabetes community and we can’t wait to see where this ends up. It was a fitting way to celebrate World Diabetes Day 2019 and a fitting way to finish up our major projects for the year. If you want to read up on what happened at the conference head to the below link:

https://thediabetesfootballcommunity.com/2019/12/21/what-happened-at-sport1day-2019/

As with anything in life, as much as I want to ensure we don’t forget the incredible things we’ve done I’m also conscious we need to look at the things to come…

On the horizon for 2020 are a number of new ideas and projects to compliment our existing ones. We’re in the midst of starting up our Women’s Diabetes Futsal project led by Katie McLean which will look to mirror our successful Men’s project. We will be finally getting to our Kid’s sessions in partnership with the Worcestershire FA after securing a slot on their new 3G astro turf facility in 2020, as well as looking at a project that moves around the country in combination with the growth of our local community hubs. It’s an exciting time to see where the next turn on this journey of ours takes us.

An incredible 2019 which took TDFC up a notch, and with the help of everyone involved in our wonderful project, we hope to go up another level in 2020. Please keep sharing, liking, retweeting, tweeting, commenting on our work and helping in any way you can, it all helps. If you’d like to get involved in what we’re up to we’d love to hear from you so please make sure you send us an email if you feel like that’s you.

It’s an honour and privilege to be leading TDFC into 2020. Single handedly the best decision I ever made was creating this project and it means the world to have so many people sharing the journey.

Thanks for everything in 2019.

Chris