West Coast Eagle Jamie Cripps recently joined forces with aspiring athlete Jake O’Brien to raise awareness about Diabetes WA’s ‘It’s About Time’ campaign, which is being promoted during National Diabetes Week (July 9-15).

Cripps, a Diabetes WA ambassador, and O’Brien, who recently ran his first half marathon, are both living with type one diabetes, and together they want to inspire people to take the condition head on.

The pair recently caught up at Domain Stadium to exchange tips on how they managed their diabetes while leading an active lifestyle.

O’Brien said it was an honour to meet the 132-game AFL campaigner and fellow diabetes patient.

“Someone like Jamie is very inspirational. He proves that diabetes isn’t going to hold you back,” O’Brien said.

Cripps opened up about his diabetes diagnosis while chatting to O’Brien at Eagles HQ.

“I was 18 at the time, got really crook for a couple of weeks and lost 10kgs in weight,” Cripps said.

“At the time it was pretty serious”

“During games I test my blood at quarter time, half time, three quarter time and after the game to see what my levels are at.

Diabetes WA’s “It’s About Time” campaign hopes to promote diabetes awareness while encouraging people to look out for the symptoms that might lead to a diagnosis, including lethargy, an increased appetite and abnormal hydration issues.

If Domain Stadium was at capacity three times over, that would represent the number of people currently diagnosed with diabetes in Western Australia.

More than 120,000 Western Australians are living with diabetes at present and Diabetes WA predicts at least 100,000 are yet to be diagnosed with the condition.

Cripps encouraged people to be vigilant but also reminded them that diabetes shouldn’t hold them back from achieving their dreams.

“It shouldn’t stop you from doing what you want to do in life,” he.

“The ‘It’s About Time” for National Diabetes Week campaign aims to raise awareness about the importance of early detection and early treatment for all types of diabetes.

“Too many Australians are being diagnosed with diabetes too late; that is true for both type one diabetes and type two diabetes. The delay in diagnosis is putting many people at risk of major life threatening health problems.”

For more information about diabetes, please visit https://diabeteswa.com.au/itsabouttime/