As John prepares to take on a marathon in support of Diabetes Ireland, he shares his powerful story of living with Type 1 Diabetes from his diagnosis at just 12 years old to the motivation behind every mile he runs today.
I’m raising funds for Diabetes Ireland to support their vital work and to be a lifeline and positive example for young children newly diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes and the families whose worlds are turned upside down overnight. One moment, life is normal; the next, parents find themselves drowning in medical terminology, insulin doses, and blood sugar charts, all while trying to stay strong for their child.
Will my child be okay? Can they still play sports? Go to sleepovers? Will they ever just feel like a normal kid?
These are the questions that echo in the minds of parents at 3 am, staring at a glucose monitor, willing the numbers to be right. The fear is real; the uncertainty is overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be faced alone. The education, support, and community that Diabetes Ireland provides can be truly transformational, turning fear into confidence, isolation into belonging, and uncertainty into hope.
Every mile I run is dedicated to those families taking their first terrifying steps on this journey. Because with the right support around them, they will discover what I have learned over 38 years, that a Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis is not the end of a full and extraordinary life. It’s simply a new way of living.
Tell us about your connection to diabetes?
For 38 years, Type 1 Diabetes has been part of my daily life, four injections a day, every single day, without exception. But it didn’t start that way.
It was the summer of 1989. I was 12 years old, fresh out of my first year at Good Counsel College Secondary School in New Ross, and life was gloriously uncomplicated. Long days out on bikes with friends, endless sport, and not a care in the world, the kind of summer every young teenager dreams of. Then, almost without warning, everything changed.
The weight began to fall off me. The energy I had in abundance just weeks before simply vanished. I was sleeping more than I was awake, and no matter how much I drank, I couldn’t shake an unquenchable, relentless thirst. Something was clearly wrong. My parents, concerned and instinctively knowing this was more than a summer bug, brought me to our GP, who wasted no time in diagnosing what was happening. Within days, I found myself in Waterford General Hospital, my carefree summer replaced by a very different kind of education.
But what I found there, alongside the needles and the blood tests and the new reality of managing a lifelong condition, were some truly wonderful nurses, doctors, and healthcare professionals who took the time to show a frightened 12-year-old boy not just how to survive with diabetes but how to live with it. That knowledge, that care, and that foundation have stayed with me every single day for nearly 40 years.
And live with it, I most certainly have. In the decades that followed, I built a full and rewarding family life, forged a successful career, and never once allowed diabetes to stand between me and my ambitions. Nowhere was this more evident than on the GAA field, where I went on to represent my club Glenmore and my county, Kilkenny, with enormous pride — from Under 14 all the way through to Senior level. Every match played, every training session completed, every medal contested was a quiet but powerful statement that a Type 1 Diabetes diagnosis at the age of 12 was never going to define the ceiling of what I could achieve. It was simply one more thing to manage — and manage it I did.
How is your training going?
Training at the moment is going brilliantly, and I’m genuinely thrilled with how my body is responding, even if the occasional “old age niggle” reminds me I’m not quite the spring chicken I once was!
I recently completed the John Tracy 10-mile race, which was a fantastic confidence booster and a great marker of where my fitness stands. Next up is the Wexford Half Marathon, which will serve as the perfect stepping stone to keep the momentum going and fine-tune my endurance before the big push ahead. After that, I’ll shift into my dedicated marathon training block in June, the serious business of building the strength and stamina needed to tackle 26.2 miles.
Every training run is a reminder of what I’m working towards. It’s not just about crossing a finish line; it’s about proving to myself and to every young person newly diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes that this condition doesn’t limit what your body can achieve. If anything, it’s made me more determined to show that living with diabetes means living fully, actively, and without apology.
What does this challenge mean to you?
This marathon isn’t just about covering 26.2 miles; it’s about turning nearly four decades of living with Type 1 Diabetes into something meaningful for others walking this same path. Every step I take carries the weight of that frightened 12-year-old boy from the summer of 1989, suddenly thrust into a world of daily injections and constant vigilance.
For 38 years, I’ve made countless decisions that others never have to think about, such as checking my blood sugar is 5.0 or above just to safely drive to and from work, calculating carbs before every meal, and adjusting insulin doses throughout the day. These aren’t occasional considerations; they’re the invisible mental load that comes with every single day of living with Type 1. And when it comes to marathon training, that mental load takes on a whole new dimension. Managing blood sugar levels correctly during long runs is a challenge, carefully timing nutrition, monitoring levels before, during and after every session, and making real-time adjustments to keep my body performing safely and effectively.
But far from being a burden, I’ve come to see it as one of my greatest strengths. It has taught me discipline, focus, and resilience that go far beyond running and on race day, crossing that finish line will mean I’ve not only conquered 26.2 miles, but done so on my own terms, with diabetes alongside me every step of the way.
This challenge also carries the strength I’ve built over those years, proving that diabetes doesn’t define your limits. When I cross that finish line, I’ll be running for every newly diagnosed child who wonders if they’ll ever feel normal again, for every parent losing sleep over blood sugar readings, and for every family discovering that with the right support, the kind Diabetes Ireland provides, this condition becomes just one part of a full, active, extraordinary life.
This challenge is my way of paying forward the care and knowledge that helped transform my diagnosis from a life sentence into a life fully lived.
You can support John’s fundraising and follow his journey here:
John’s fundraising link
