Port Adelaide’s Molly Brooksby was scared how sport would affect her body. Now she manages her diabetes with an AFLW career

When Port Adelaide’s Molly Brooksby was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 15, she was worried of the impact high-intensity sport would have on her body.

Her local footy side was in a final, but she was too scared to run out.

“I was just worried about how my body would react to playing at such a high intensity level,” Brooksby told ABC Sport.

“And I was just so uncertain and scared as to how my body would react, whether I’d go low [blood sugar], whether I’d go high … so I didn’t play.”

Had her blood glucose levels spiked or dropped, she could have risked hyperglycaemia or hypoglycaemia; conditions of high or low blood sugar levels that result in weakness, dizziness, confusion, fatigue, anxiety and/or fainting.

Fast-forward four years and she’s one of the AFLW’s rising talents, having earned a rising star nomination in her first year, and about to play in a preliminary final on Saturday.

She now plays and trains with strapping covering her white insulin port, around 5cm thick, on the back of her left tricep. It’s inserted just below her skin and monitors her blood sugar levels, which she checks around every 15 minutes.

While it’s something “constantly” on her mind, it’s also made her more accountable to how she takes care of her body, which has turned out to be somewhat of a positive in her life as an elite athlete.

‘A big shock to the system’: Getting the diagnosis

Brooksby was diagnosed with the autoimmune condition — where the body is unable to produce insulin — as a teenager after she displayed “all the normal signs of a type one diabetic”, including weight loss, extreme hunger and thirst, urinating all the time and being unable to sleep properly.

“I was just always constantly tired and I wasn’t myself at all,” she said.

Then testing her blood sugar levels on her parents’ friend’s blood sugar equipment — and finding it extremely high — Brooksby went to the hospital where her diagnosis was confirmed

“It was definitely very scary after the diagnosis,” Brooksby said.

Brooksby found it frustrating being a young girl who just wanted to play sport but now had to constantly worry about what she was eating and when, and how it was affecting her blood sugar levels.

“And I guess realising that everything which I sort of took for granted beforehand was kind of taken from me. You know, I had to figure out what my body needed at different times and how to administer insulin into myself and how to count carbs and when I’m out and about eating foods I’m not used to,” Brooksby said.

She is one of two Power players who manage diabetes with their professional sports careers, along with 22-year-old defender Alex Ballard.

They are part of the more than 130,000 Australians who live with type 1.

While type 2 is rare for professional athletes, there have been a number with type 1 diabetes, including AFL men’s players Jamie Cripps, Paddy McCartin, Brandon Jack, Sam Reid and Nathan Bassett, now a backline coach with Melbourne in the men’s program.

However, research has shown that more than 60 per cent of people with diabetes undertake no structured exercise, which is influenced, in part, by fear of exercise-induced hypoglycaemia — just as Brooksby was as a teenager.

Diabetes Australia Group CEO Justine Cain said diabetes is a complicated condition and different sorts of exercise have different effects. Plus, every person’s body responds differently.

“Anaerobic exercise, such as sprinting or quick, powerful movements like jumping or lunging, can make glucose levels go higher as the body responds to stress,” Cain said.

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“Aerobic exercise like walking uses up glucose, so it can cause dangerously low glucose levels or hypoglycaemia. Also, hypoglycaemia can happen at night after exercise.

“That’s why continuous glucose monitoring devices are so important because they give warnings about glucose level changes after exercise.”

Brooskby has never experienced exercise-induced hypoglycaemia/hyperglycaemia during a game. But she has had lows during training, particularly during big sessions in preseason.

‘Keeps me accountable’

Brooksby never missed another game after that first one at 15.

“Funnily, I haven’t had that worry since, like now I just have so much control over my diabetes,” she said.

“And [I have] all the supportive staff I have around me and my teammates who know what I need to do and allow me to do that.”

About to head into a preliminary final against undefeated North Melbourne in Port Adelaide’s maiden finals campaign, Brooksby said in a round-about-way that she is grateful for her condition making her more accountable to her body.

“Whether I’m in the gym, I’m on the track or between drink breaks, I’m like ‘let’s go check my levels’,” she said.

“I mean, it’s constantly on my mind because I want to make sure that my levels are good, to ensure that my body is properly skilled and I’m able to perform at the best I can. So I guess it’s something more to worry about, but in a way, I’m kind of grateful for it.

“Because it kind of keeps me accountable for what I put in my body and how I take care of my body. 

“Because not only your diet, which is important for your body, but it highlighted the importance of sleep and recovery and all that sort of stuff.

“And how everything you do impacts the way you feel, and I guess, in turn, the way you perform as well. So it’s definitely a big change. And not everyone else has to think about all this sort of stuff [that] I think about, but it’s just part of it.”

North Melbourne and Port Adelaide play their preliminary final at 3:05pm (AEDT) on Saturday, followed by Brisbane and Adelaide at 6:30pm (AEST).