A dedicated sprinter told how her haemochromatosis diagnosis is not stopping her from going for gold at the Olympics.
Dubliner Sinead Denny was diagnosed in 2012, aged 20 and explained how the condition will not stop her pursuing her Tokyo dream.
Sinead, 30, told the Irish Mirror: “I’m hoping to go to the Olympics, there’s a mixed four by four relay team that hope to qualify for Tokyo this summer.
“I have to run fast to get on this team, it’s basically about getting races in from now until the end of June and getting my times down.”
Working as a Royal Mail post woman in Northern Ireland since moving in with her boyfriend has meant she’s getting more steps in.
She said: “I walk everywhere up to 18 kilometres a day and I push a trolley.
“It’s got me a bit fitter than just training, previously I had issues with calf muscles, but I feel now the walking has helped.
“I’m walking 25,000 steps for five hours a day, just before 2pm so it’s a lot.
“I train afterwards, I’ve two gym sessions a week, then I’ve three running sessions a week too.
The Tourism management graduate opened up on her diagnosis which thankfully medics caught on time.
She said: “I was diagnosed with the condition in 2012, it was originally from my dad, his brother was getting a check up done because he was going to do an ultra mountain race.
“When my dad got checked he had it, so the GP urged him to get the kids checked, I’ve two other sisters and one of them is anaemic.
“I have to be wary of iron intake, red meat and high iron foods and vegetables, it’s mainly shellfish that’s high in iron, so I avoid that.
“Every three months, I get a pint of blood taken, my body stores too much iron, the only way to stop it is to get rid of the blood.
“Then they check my ferritin level, at the start mine would have been 600, whereas a normal person would be normally below 100.
“It’s quite manageable, if you don’t catch it on time it can damage your liver.
“It’s the same symptoms as being anaemic, you suffer fatigue but it would be mainly liver damage over time that would cause problems.”
This week marks Haemochromatosis Awareness week, the silent condition can cause damage if undiagnosed.
Sinead added: “So many people in Ireland could have it but it goes undiagnosed, it’s called the celtic disease, brought down from the generations.
“If people feel the symptoms, I urge them to get blood tests.
“It affects everyone differently, it hasn’t affected my performance.
“I just need to be mindful when I get my bloods taken, I wouldn’t do it right before a race just in case it affects that."
Tokyo is Sinead's mission in the 400 metres and it would be a dream come true to represent Ireland in July.
She said: “I have to run a good time and athletics Ireland will select the best six athletes to go and represent Ireland, there’s a lot of good males and females running so it will be tough competition.
“I have my heart set on it, but it’s everyone's dream to go to the Olympics so fingers crossed it would be my dream come true."
One in five Irish people carry the Haemochromatosis or ‘iron overload’ gene, so early diagnosis is essential.
Visit haemochromatosis-ir.com for more information.
