“When I first got the news I actually thought that was me done with football.”
Kilmarnock striker Bruce Anderson has opened up on his battle with diabetes and how fellow footballer Scott Allan made him realise his career was not over before it had even started.
For World Diabetes Day, the pair sat down together to discuss the condition and how diagnosis is not a barrier to achieving your dreams.
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Watch as Kilmarnock’s Bruce Anderson and former Celtic and Hibs player Scott Allan on the challenge of living with type 1 diabetes and not letting it stop them being footballers
“I was only 16 years old, just turned professional at Aberdeen, doing really well in the youth teams and I can just remember being buzzing. I was a full-time footballer following the dream,” Anderson told Sky Sports News.
“Near the back end of the season, that’s when I started sort of seeing the symptoms. I was going to my bed at night, dying of thirst, I was up about six or seven times a night in the toilet and I looked terrible.
Bruce Anderson was diagnosed with diabetes while coming through at Aberdeen
“People were coming up to me asking if I was alright and that, I must have just looked shocking.
“I just thought I can’t keep going on like this so I phoned my mum and said look I really need help. I sort of broke down on the phone and then went to hospital. Ever since then my life’s changed, I’ve been type 1 diabetic.”
After an initial panic about what it would mean, finding out he was not alone helped him cope with his change in lifestyle.
“When I first got the news I actually thought that was me done with football, I thought there’s no way,” the 26-year-old former Livingston player added.
“After a couple of weeks my family came and said, ‘by the way, Scott Allan, look at him’. That really gave me a boost.
“I thought. ‘you know what, this isn’t going to stop me’. You [Allan] were playing at the highest level in the country so you were a massive inspiration for me and after that it was sort of taking everything in my stride.
“I thought, ‘I’m not going to let this stop me from following my dreams’.”
Scott Allan has made almost 300 competitive appearances
Allan was diagnosed while playing at youth level at Dundee United, going on to have a long career with clubs including Celtic and Hibernian.
“It’s changed massively. When I was first diagnosed, up until the age of 12, it was different so we used syringes at the time and I could only eat at certain times throughout the day,” he said.
“When you go professional and full-time, your life completely changed from your school day to now trying to be a footballer and the energy that’s needed and the sleep that’s needed because, I don’t know if you were the same, the first six months of going professional is really hard on the body because you’re just not used to it.
“For me that was a really frustrating part of football at times, not being able to go for 90 minutes in certain games because the blood sugars had affected it.
“I think that’s a key message, it isn’t perfect every day but you can strive to have it perfect.”
Anderson has three goals in 11 appearances for Kilmarnock
Both players are able to manage their conditions and want to help other young people deal with any diagnosis.
“You can help people,” Allan added. “Especially parents, I think it’s a huge thing for parents who can show their kid that you can follow your dreams whether you have type 1 diabetes as well.”
Anderson, who has made 11 appearances for Kilmarnock this season, added: “You always bang the drum that diabetes won’t stop you from doing anything as long as you take care of yourself.
“We know how hard it is to be a footballer but if you just look after yourself it’s not really going to stop you from doing anything.”