Lee Blakeman,BBC Radio Stoke and
Lee Bottomley,West Midlands
A professional boxer said he is not letting type 1 diabetes stand in the way of his career.
Lewis Lawton, 21, from Stoke-on-Trent, is trained in the city by his father and former professional boxer Scott Lawton, and is one of a handful of boxers with the condition.
Diagnosed around the age of eight, Mr Lawton could not compete in amateur boxing until the rules changed in 2015.
The middleweight said he was never pushed into boxing by his dad, “because obviously I couldn’t, and as soon as those rules changed, I asked him can I have a go”.
Recently signed by promoter Frank Warren to Queensberry Promotions, the boxer has just won his third professional fight.
Type 1 is caused by the immune system attacking cells in the pancreas that control blood sugar levels, and affects around 400,000 people in the UK.
“My pancreas just stopped working one day, I didn’t get a choice in that,” said Mr Lawton, who injects insulin when he eats and takes a long-lasting insulin at night.
“It’s a bit weird, because people expect when you do physical activity your blood sugar goes low, but mine actually goes higher.”
‘Hits hard’
His blood sugar levels have to be monitored after each round to make sure they have not risen too much.
“I need to make sure that when I start, I’m starting towards the lower end, because if it goes above sixteen the doctor will stop me.
“So it is something you’ve got to think about, because if you don’t and you let it get out of control, they’ll just stop the bout.”
His father Scott said his son “hits so hard” and his boxing brain takes on data very quickly.
“He’ll come back to the corner, and I’ll go to give him some advice.. and he’s already gone, yeah, I know dad…he’s exceptionally good”.