Diabetes is my superpower
The actor tells ELIZABETH ARCHER how he’s managing Type 1 diabetes during the coronavirus crisis and why the disease never stopped him achieving his goals
AS A TYPE 1 diabetic, EastEnders and Hollyoaks star Cerith Flinn knows he needs to be extra vigilant while the coronavirus pandemic continues. “During these testing times, being a Type 1 diabetic is tough and naturally anxiety-provoking,” says Cerith, 33.
People with diabetes are at increased risk of becoming seriously ill from coronavirus.
Diabetes UK recommends being especially vigilant about social distancing, and checking blood sugar more often.
“I hope, like me, others can try and remain positive.”
It is a worrying time for Cerith, who lives in London with his girlfriend Kirsty, 29, a cognitive behavioural therapist.
But after living with the disease for 23 years, he says he’s come to view diabetes as his “superpower”.
“It’s a source of resilience that fuels me every day and helps me achieve my goals and ambitions,” he says.
Best known for his roles as Gethin Pryce in EastEnders and Levi Rochester in Hollyoaks, Cerith says managing his condition on set can be tough.
“Being an actor, it’s extremely fast-paced,” he explains. “You’re on set and adrenaline makes your blood sugar go up as well, or nerves might bring it crashing down.
“I’m always anxious that I’m going to have a low and slow the process down for the rest of the actors.
“In the past, I’d often have a gulp of glucose to reassure me that I wasn’t going to have a low onset. But that’s detrimental in the long term because the higher your blood sugar, the worse it is for your immune system.”
SINCE taking a diabetes management course at his local hospital, Cerith finally feels on top of his condition. “If you’re not careful, you always feel like you’re playing catch up and diabetes controls you rather than the other way round,” he says.
In the past, the only way to measure blood glucose was with a finger-prick test.
But blood glucose monitoring systems like the FreeStyle Libra, which Theresa May uses, have transformed life for many diabetics.
Cerith was one of the first people in the UK to start using the reader.
“It brings massive reassurance to me and my partner. She can wake in the middle of the night and know my insulin is at a perfect level.
“It’s revolutionised my work life too. I no longer give myself glucose on set because I can see my blood sugar on the app and I know if my blood sugar is going up or down.” Unfortunately, there’s a postcode lottery with FreeStyle Libre, with only some NHS Trusts offering it.
“I was paying for it for the first six months – one sensor lasts two weeks and costs £50, so it’s £100 a month. But now, luckily, I can get mine on the NHS.”
Cerith believes many people are still ignorant about diabetes.
“It’s funny, people come up to me in the gym and point to my glucose monitor, saying: ‘Mate, is that the new Fitbit?’”
Many think the disease is caused by a poor diet, but Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition, meaning the body attacks itself. These conditions are often triggered by a virus or stress, although Cerith doesn’t know what caused his.
“When I was first diagnosed, people asked my parents if I had been eating too much sugar, but I was the healthiest child going. It’s just one of those annoying things but I’ve been dealt that card in life.”
Cerith was diagnosed with diabetes as a child.
“When I was about 10, I started losing weight dramatically and was extremely tired. I was thirsty and I was going to the toilet all the time.
“I felt very different to other 10-year-olds as I had so little energy,” he says.
Thankfully, his parents quickly realised something was wrong.
“I was lucky that my dad worked for a pharmaceutical company, so he recognised my symptoms and rushed me to the GP.
“I was diagnosed on the spot.
My blood sugar range was 29 and on average you should be reading between 4 and 8, so it was a clear sign my pancreas wasn’t producing insulin.”
With no family history of diabetes, it was a shock. “It was a massively scary time.As a 10-yearold, I thought my life was over. I wasn’t able to understand anything that was happening,” says Cerith.
“I was already dealing with new feelings – starting secondary school, discovering girls for the first time.
“On top of that I suddenly had this autoimmune condition and had to measure my blood sugars.
“The teachers didn’t really know what was going on with me or why I was having random moments when I didn’t make sense in class, or taking a long time to come back from the toilet. It was because I had low blood sugar.
“I remember going to sleepovers with my friends and wondering what they were going to think of me having to lift up my top and inject myself in my stomach. It made me grow up very quickly.”
At the time, Cerith was a budding footballer playing for Swansea Academy and later Cardiff City Academy.
HE TRAINED three times a week and often stayed overnight in Cardiff after training before travelling back to his hometown of Llanelli. But having Type 1 diabetes made it tough.
“It was full on because I was playing at a professional level. I really had to be on top of my game.
“We did bleep tests on a daily basis and I was running around on the pitch like mad, especially because I was a central midfielder.
“When your blood sugars can be affected by something as simple as going for a walk around the park, you have to be careful.”
Cerith continued to play for Cardiff until he was released from the academy at 16.
It was then he started drama school to pursue his dream of becoming an actor.
But while his friends were going out drinking, Cerith couldn’t let go in the same way: “Beer makes your blood sugar rise, whereas wine brings your blood sugar down straight away. I constantly have to think about it.”
Despite the difficulties of living with diabetes, Cerith hopes he will inspire others with the condition to follow their dreams.
“There’s still so much negativity surrounding diabetes but I want to celebrate it. I wouldn’t be where I am today without the resilience that I built through having diabetes.”