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 with the disease at the age of eight, but initially struggled to accept her condition.

"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 hospital in Margate.

It was to be the first of many hospital stays, including time in intensive care, as she struggled to control the diabetes.

“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 is an ambassador for charity 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. I have realised that as a pageant queen I can use that platform to speak up for other people and build a community and help others realise that it is okay to be a diabetic.

“Some things are hard – if I have to inject my insulin in public some people will assume I am taking drugs. Others have assumed I am going to be unreliable, or ill all the time.

“But when I speak to them and explain what it means to have diabetes, I can break down the barriers and change their minds.”

Jade receives support from East Kent Hospitals’ children’s diabetes team and is full of praise for the service.

She said: “They have been amazing and my consultant is lovely.

“They are there to support if you let them. I would encourage other young people to really use their diabetes team. Learn everything you can, but don’t overwhelm yourself, and talk about it to your friends, family, the diabetes team – everyone you can.

“The more you learn to accept it the easier it is. I kept it to myself and it landed me in hospital.

“You will have bad days but you are worth so much more than your illness. You don’t have diabetes and it doesn’t have you; it is just something you are living with.

“Regardless of what the blood sugar monitor says, you are still you.”

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