Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
‘I was in massive denial - I thought it would go away’
Teen shakes ‘shame’ of diabetes diagnosis
A beauty queen who struggled for years to come to terms with having diabetes is urging others living with the disease to take it seriously.
Jade Knight, 17, is reigning Miss Canterbury International and hopes to become a police officer - but she is also living with Type 1 diabetes.
The Herne Bay teen was diagnosed at the age of eight, but initially struggled to accept it. “I thought diabetes was something grandparents got,” she said. “I was in massive denial. “My diabetes has been unstable because I have not accepted it. I didn’t realise I had to deal with it - I thought it would eventually just go away.”
Jade displayed many of the warning signs for diabetes, including increased thirst and losing weight, so her mum took her to the GP and asked for a blood sugar test.
The results showed signs of diabetes and she spent the next week at the QEQM in Margate. It was to be the first of many hospital stays, including time in intensive care, as she struggled to control the condition.
“It was only when I hit 17 that I really realised I had to deal with it,” said Jade. “Until last year, I hated the fact I was diabetic. I didn’t ever test my sugar levels, I wouldn’t wear any form of ID that identified me as a diabetic, I wouldn’t take my insulin pens out of my bag and I wouldn’t talk about it.
“Now I am realising that I don’t need to be ashamed of it. I am me because of my diabetes and I have achieved some amazing things.”
Jade made a short film with support from her school, Herne Bay High, which reached the finals of a national competition, and saw her visit the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in London for its premiere. She hopes to compete in the finals of Miss International UK in August and, if successful, could go on to compete in Japan for the worldwide title. Despite her pageant career taking off, she finds time to be an ambassador for Diabetes UK. Jade said: “I lost who I was through diabetes. For a long time I felt like just a number on my blood monitor. But I am so much more than that. “Some things are hard – if I have to inject insulin in public some people assume I am taking drugs. Others have assumed I am going to be unreliable, or ill all the time. But when I explain what it means to have diabetes, I can break down the barriers and change their minds.”
Jade added: “The more you accept it the easier it is. You will have bad days but you are worth more than your illness.”