Diabetics Doing Boxing with Luke Byrne

[00:00:01] Rob Howe: Welcome to the Diabetics Doing Things podcast, where we explore the amazing stories of type 1 diabetics around the world. I'm your host, Rob Howe, 11-year type 1 diabetic and Diabetics Doing Things founder. Diabetics Doing Things is looking for sponsors. For more information, visit our website at DiabeticsDoingThings.com forward slash sponsorships. This week's guest is Luke Byrne, the first ever type 1 diabetic to be certified by the Irish Amateur Boxing Association. All right, so we are live now, recording episode one of Diabetics Doing Things, and our first guest, all the way from Ireland, is Luke Byrne. Thanks for joining us today, man. No worries at all. I know we already kind of talked about this in our conversations, but let's kind of go back and we met each other through Twitter about three, two, three years ago. I was working with USA Boxing at the time and today's episode is Diabetics Doing Boxing, highlighting all the great things that diabetics are doing worldwide.

[00:01:18] Luke Byrne: Okay, well, I'm Luke Byrne, I'm 19 and I'm from a small county in the midlands of Ireland called Longford and I was diagnosed with diabetes five years ago, six years January and it was a tough time because I was only 14 and I went through a lot of change anyways and then for about eight months before I was diagnosed, I was very sick, like I was thirsty all the time, leaving the bathroom all the time.

[00:01:49] Rob Howe: Do you remember, you said January 16th was the day you got diagnosed?

[00:01:53] Luke Byrne: January 6th.

[00:01:53] Rob Howe: January 6th. That's so funny, man. My anniversary is January 1st. Jesus. Yeah, so right in that same week. That's crazy. In the United States, we get Christmas break. I'm sure you get something similar. So right in the middle of Christmas break, I got diabetes, and then I got out of the hospital the day before I was going back to school, and my mom made me go back to school. I didn't even get to miss any class.

[00:02:18] Luke Byrne: Yeah, I was in the middle of exams at the time. So the day I got out of the hospital, I went straight to school and took an exam.

[00:02:27] Rob Howe: Yeah, man, that's so funny. That's crazy. And, you know, everybody else, some people are like, yeah, I don't feel good today, I need to miss class. And it's like, yeah, I went to the hospital for five days, and I'm here.

[00:02:41] Luke Byrne: I was in for three weeks.

[00:02:43] Rob Howe: Three weeks?

[00:02:44] Luke Byrne: Because I was in for a week, but I caught swine flu while I was in.

[00:02:48] Rob Howe: Oh, man, you caught swine flu, you said?

[00:02:50] Luke Byrne: Yeah, swine flu.

[00:02:51] Rob Howe: Oh, no.

[00:02:53] Luke Byrne: Oh, it was crazy. I was in isolation for like two weeks.

[00:02:57] Rob Howe: That's unreal. I didn't see anybody. As if it wasn't enough that you got diabetes, then you got swine flu.

[00:03:06] Luke Byrne: Yeah, and I didn't have the great phones. So I let no Facebook, no anything.

[00:03:12] Rob Howe: Crazy.

[00:03:13] Luke Byrne: Like, I was drinking easily three or four pints of water at a time, and I'd do nothing. It was horrible.

[00:03:20] Rob Howe: Yeah, I was shocked with how much water I could drink. It was unbelievable. So you're a boxer. You got an Olympic hopeful, trying to make the Irish Boxing Commission boxing team. And you're unique. You're the first registered diabetic boxer with the Ireland Boxing Commission. Talk a little bit about that.

[00:03:45] Luke Byrne: Well, two years ago now, I started getting back into boxing. and I did it when I was a kid. But then I stopped for school for education and stuff. And then I decided to get back into it when I was diabetic because I put on a lot of weight, and I wanted to shift that weight. And then once I'd successfully done that, I just thought, like, why not get back into the ring? Like, I love doing what I was doing with training-wise and stuff, and I love sparring, so I just thought, why not give it a go again? And then I went, go on.

[00:04:14] Rob Howe: Isn't it, you know, we talk a lot about when you're a diabetic, they give you a lot of things that they want you to do. And like I was telling you a little bit earlier, you know, when I got diagnosed, I thought, oh, no, my life's over. I'm not going to be able to do what I love to do. All I want to do is play basketball, and they're going to take that away from me. But my doctors were super encouraging, and were like, no, you can do it. And it was so much better for you. So even today, you know, I'm not playing basketball actively anymore, but I go play for fun. And I feel so much better after, you know, after I'm…

[00:04:49] Luke Byrne: It's nice to put some work in.

[00:04:51] Rob Howe: Yeah. Everything's, you know, my ratios go down, you know, my blood sugar equalizes. Yeah. It's just great. It's a great feeling.

[00:05:00] Luke Byrne: It really is. But funny enough, like, my first endocrinologist, he's a Japanese doctor, and he's absolutely fantastic. I couldn't have got a better guy when I first got off diabetes. He really educated me on it all. And he was totally against boxing altogether. Not for diabetics, just for nobody. He did not like it, head trauma, blah, blah, blah. You know, the usual doctor stuff that they say. And luckily, when I first applied for the license with the IABA, which is the Irish Amateur Boxing Association, they were like, no, oh, right, not happening, never has happened, never will have happened. So I was like, right, okay. So I went to my dad and I told him, And he was like, surely there must be something we can do. So he emailed them. And he was like, you know, this is discrimination. My son is wanting to participate in four of you guys, like trying to do his best for your country, for his country, and make you proud and blah, blah, blah. And then they got back to us and it must have went over six to eight months of emails back and forth and blah, blah, blah. And then eventually they were like, go see your endocrinologist. and then if he gives you to go ahead you know then you're gonna be free to do it and i was thinking oh no like i'm never gonna get the go ahead of this guy so anyways i rang the hospital that day and they were like oh yeah okay well we want you to meet your new endocrinologist anyways i was like okay awesome like is this a new guy so hopefully it'd be he'd be a boxing fan or something and it was an irish guy he'd just been coming back from australia and he'd been working with diabetic surfing in australia and he was telling me all about that and how obviously how dangerous surfing is for diabetics so then i was like to him right well i want a box and he was like really i was like yeah he goes okay so he checked me over did my weight body fat and then did my bloods and everything and he goes there's literally no reason why you shouldn't be able to do it as long as you manage your bloods as well if you have been the last the past three years then you should be free to do it so then uh he said he gave me the stamp of approval sent that off and two weeks later my boxing license came.

[00:07:04] Rob Howe: Oh, that's awesome. How cool is that?

[00:07:07] Luke Byrne: It was awesome. It was such a good feeling to get it.

[00:07:10] Rob Howe: I'm so happy. I remember you tweeted me, I think, when it all came through. And during that process, I remember your mom had also reached out to me via Twitter and talking about feeling discouraged and what you guys could do and what I did. At that time, I was still actively trying to play basketball. Um, and you know, even when I got to like the pro level, I think like, and part of the reason why, um, we're doing what we're doing is to create awareness because, um, you know, just like the, the boxing commission, they said, Oh, it'll never happen. It's never happened. It never will happen. Uh, you know, I was trying to keep, uh, I was able to manage my diabetes so well that I had to keep it a secret from teams that wanted to sign me because, you know, at that level, there's any, uh, you know, any reason to not sign somebody, they'll come up with, to pick somebody else over and I had to have every advantage because I wasn't as good as a lot of these guys. So yeah, I think it's so cool to see how a little bit of awareness, a little bit of proof, it's like, hey, I'm really healthy, 100% healthy, I should be able to do this.

[00:08:17] Luke Byrne: My mindset is the only difference between me and a non-diabetic is I carry my pancreas in my pocket. that's it that's the only difference and as long as i have my head on me and i can just calculate my blood sugars and my insulin i'm fine i'm normal like everyone else and i just wanted everyone to understand that like because even schools like they'd be like to me oh we'll put you in a room on your own for exams and you know you get extra time and stuff and i was like i don't want any of that like i just want to be treated like everyone else and do my exams and get everything done and it was the same with the sport like because i don't want to be treated specially for anything and i just want to be treated like every other boxer that would be stepping into the gym because i used to have coaches like i know they're only looking out for me but he's like oh you're okay you know you can sit this out if you want but that would just motivate me to do better and run the extra mile or do another round of pads or hit that bag harder than anyone else and just turned out to

[00:09:12] Rob Howe: what it was today which is a successful boxer so far so yeah and i think you know that that type of motivation makes you stronger, not weaker. Talk about preparation. How do you wake up? Because I had days where some days you just never know what your blood sugar is going to be like, right? It could be just super low for no reason or high and not feel well. Have you ever had any days like that?

[00:09:39] Luke Byrne: Yeah. Funny enough, my bloods do spike at the nighttime, so I wake up when I get really dry out every morning, no matter what. so since my injury because I was injured there over the summer and I've only just recently came back three weeks ago so I decided to give the caveman diet a go and basically what I'm doing now is I drink a pint of water in the morning which is part of the caveman diet anyways and it just totally refreshes you it wakes you up and everything and I feel great after it too because I'm not thirsty anymore and then I take my insulin then and I'm fine to go then in the morning and just during the day then I go off how I feel. If I don't feel great then I'll check my blood sugars more than I would normally. But if I feel fine then I'll leave it until lunch time, then until dinner time then until night time. Like I don't really have a set routine as such.

[00:10:27] Rob Howe: Yeah, I'm kind of the same way. I test about four times a day at different times just depending on how I feel. And I found you're talking about the caveman diet I did a very similar diet like twice in the last year or not needing any carbs, or really just potatoes, everything's all natural, good oils and meats, and what a huge difference it makes. It's so good for you.

[00:10:54] Luke Byrne: It really is.

[00:10:54] Rob Howe: I think I almost was off of my bolus insulin completely, because I have a pump. Right, okay. So the pump is always dripping, and I really like it. I fought it for a long time, because I was like, oh, this isn't sexy. The girls aren't going to like this. It's always attached. But I liked it. And I didn't even have to bolus, give myself shots for meals. My blood sugar would be so flat throughout the day. It was incredible.

[00:11:21] Luke Byrne: Yeah, I mean, like during the day now, all I'm eating is like fruits and nuts until dinner, then I have a meal. But like, I mean, the nuts have no carbs really. They're slow releasing, so that's fine. And the fruits that I'm eating, they would only, I'd eat them before a workout. So I'm burning that sugar off anyways. So it doesn't matter to me. So nowadays, I'm not even taking my boluses during the day either, only for my dinner. and it's perfect but like for months and months like my mum was like oh you know be careful with carbs and stuff and like my mum worries more about diabetes than me is where she was diabetic like

[00:11:53] Rob Howe: yeah that's because she's a good that's because she's a good mom right exactly she looks out for

[00:11:57] Luke Byrne: me more than i look out for me like and she's always done that it's brilliant like i appreciate so much like i wouldn't be as headstrong as i was without her like because she she always looks after me like gets my insulin for me gets my strips and everything it's fantastic i don't know many who do that like but um now i don't even have to worry about the insulin as much because of the diet that i'm on and it's fantastic i feel much better as well on it yeah sometimes you like after insulin like sometimes you can feel a bit sluggish and not ready for like the day but now i'm just full

[00:12:26] Rob Howe: of energy and ready to go like well and i think a lot of people don't realize like insulin is a depressant you know it brings you down and uh you know i'll sometimes i'll find myself just like in the middle of the day you know it's a work day or something and i'm dragging and i'm like what's wrong i feel weird and then i'll check my blood sugar and i'm you know you know weight much below 60 or something you know in the 40s or 50s and it's like oh no wonder then i gotta go you know get some sugar in me and i immediately perk right back up yeah like i find that like even even then

[00:12:54] Luke Byrne: even on my outlook and you can be like i'm not having a good night tonight and i don't know why because i'm with all my friends music's great blah blah blah then go check your blood sugars and there's your answer pretty much. It's pretty weird, but it's just the effect that it has, unfortunately.

[00:13:08] Rob Howe: Yeah, unfortunately for my friends, if my blood sugar is high, I get real cranky. I get real irritable and kind of hard to get along with. That's funny. Yeah, mood is a big part of it. It really is. You talked about your mom. Is there anybody else in your family that has diabetes, or are you the only one?

[00:13:28] Luke Byrne: It's kind of weird. It's really offset relative. My dad's great. uncle who would be the closest to me who would have type 1 diabetes like I have a couple of relatives with type 2 but that's like over obesity and stuff I'm the only type 1 that I've ever met

[00:13:42] Rob Howe: in my family so hopefully I'm just the unlucky gene yeah that's kind of where I'm at too there's there's a lot of other stuff that goes along in my family maybe you know heart disease or something like that or uh but no diabetes and not even like you know a great uncle uh your dad's you know your dad's great uncle, what have you. That's a long time ago.

[00:14:03] Luke Byrne: It is. It's like four generations. Hopefully he skips another four.

[00:14:08] Rob Howe: Yeah, for real. I think about that a lot. What's one thing I don't want to pass along? If I can help it.

[00:14:15] Luke Byrne: Not the worst thing, though, in fairness.

[00:14:17] Rob Howe: Right, yeah. And I think another thing, talking about going through day-to-day life and talking with people about diabetes. Oh, yeah, I'm a diabetic. and they're like, what? You seem normal to me. You look different. Yeah, and they're like, oh, so you can't eat sugar? Or he's like, well, I can, but you just have to count everything. And I think that's part of why we're doing this, right? Telling amazing stories about people who use diabetes as motivation to accomplish great things, like what you're doing with boxing. And even just going through everyday life, Not every diabetic is like Wilford Brimley. I don't know if you know who Wilford Brimley is over in Ireland, but he's a child star over here that has diabetes commercials. He's like, do you have type 2 diabetes? Yeah, diabetes. Diabetes. And so that's basically everybody's first association with the disease, and I think that gives us a bad name.

[00:15:18] Luke Byrne: I think it just makes you more appreciative about every day. Because, I mean, especially when I was diagnosed at first, like I was only 14 so I was in a child's ward in the hospital where I was and I mean there was kids with you know like cancer and stuff like that and I was seeing parents so worried there was a kid and I'll never forget him he was only five and he'd been rushed into my ward because it was the only place with a free bed and he was in a really bad car accident he was badly disfigured in his face and he'd marks all over him like I was thinking Jesus and I've only got to stick a needle in my myself a few times a day and I was like wow I could be way worse off it just made me appreciative that's all I've got because I think people are like oh my god I'd hate to have diabetes but if you actually did live with it you'd realize it's not terrible

[00:16:09] Rob Howe: that's right 48 hours without insulin and we're probably in pretty bad shape but other than that in terms of diseases that you gotta use or carry with you for the rest of your life it's not so bad exactly and now i mean i can't imagine how it was probably super difficult for your great uncle or your you know your great great uncle uh i'm blind yeah because you know there's no treatment but now you know the treatment's pretty good there's a lot of technology um i've seen some phone apps coming out they got the continuous glucose monitor i don't know i i want to try to get on one of those here in the next little while try to figure out there really is so i mean uh Yeah, it's super manageable. If you take care of yourself, because I know a lot of people that don't. And I think those people are obviously like the minority of people, like the worst extreme cases always get the most publicity. Yes. But, man, there's some cool stories from people who just test their blood sugar four times a day and count every carb that they eat and exercise and then just carry on living their life. That's just another thing that they balance. um so what do you uh how's your routine different um or you know what are things that you uh that you are the things you used to do all the time um that you don't do anymore yeah well i mean like

[00:17:31] Luke Byrne: i suppose it's kind of hard to kind of categorize my life from now and then because i was only 14 and i'm like i'm a grown man now it's very different but i suppose like back when i was I wouldn't think anything of reaching into the fridge and grabbing a chocolate bar or you know going out and just staying up all night and you know doing whatever but now like I'd be like to myself right I'm eating at this time and that is the time I'm eating and that's it I wouldn't be going in and grabbing stuff that I don't need to eat or if I was going to be going out I'd make sure that I had enough insulin with me and stuff and I'd just be more strict on myself but I'd never stop myself from doing something I wanted to do even now like and that's the thing that's good like I said earlier the only thing I think is different about myself now and then was my pancreas work back then it doesn't now that's all that's changed about me really it's like if I had to go to the movies now something that I've never been able to resist and probably should my doctor probably slapped me and told him bonbons, I love bonbons

[00:18:33] Rob Howe: yeah

[00:18:35] Luke Byrne: I know it's just a ball of sugar but I will take my insulin for it and I will be fine.

[00:18:40] Rob Howe: Yeah. Because bonbons are great. They're terrible for you, but they're great.

[00:18:47] Luke Byrne: And at risk, once a month is okay. I don't mind it.

[00:18:50] Rob Howe: Yeah, and you're training really hard anyway, so it just goes – your body absorbs it right away. What do you carry with you all the time? I know you said you keep your pancreas in your pocket with your pen. What other stuff do you carry with you?

[00:19:07] Luke Byrne: My blood tester, and I don't know if you have it in America, but they're called Lucozade tablets. Basically, it's like Gatorade, but in tablet form. It's just quicker and easier to carry around with you, obviously, and if you need to take it quick, all you have to do is take these tablets, and they're gone. So they just make sure that I'm okay if I have a low blood sugar or something. They're small. They're easy to take around with me.

[00:19:28] Rob Howe: And how many carbs are in them? They got a lot of sugar in them?

[00:19:33] Luke Byrne: Oh, a crazy amount, yeah. I think there's like 100 per capsule left. They're literally such refined sugar in just a small little block. They're like sugar cubes, basically.

[00:20:00] Rob Howe: What were those called? what are those tabs called

[00:20:05] Luke Byrne: Lucozade tablets or there's there's ones that are Dextrose tablets they're not as nice but they do the same job you know

[00:20:14] Rob Howe: alright I'm gonna have to see if I can get me some of those figure out figure out a way to give me some of those tablets that's pretty cool

[00:20:19] Luke Byrne: like I mean six of those and you're right as rain if you have a bad hypo

[00:20:23] Rob Howe: yeah

[00:20:25] Luke Byrne: pretty handy

[00:20:28] Rob Howe: what do you got any you know on that note do you got any crazy low or high blood sugar stories

[00:20:34] Luke Byrne: only one it's really abnormal actually I never sleepwalk ever

[00:20:44] Rob Howe: this is already a great story I got out of my bed

[00:20:49] Luke Byrne: I was totally asleep I do not remember this at all I went into my parents room I woke up my mum and I was telling her she's really afraid of clowns and I was telling her that there was clowns coming to get her and that she needed to go and she was like oh my god he's having a bad hypo like because she could see I was as white as a ghost and I was really sweaty and she was like right okay gotta get him back to bed and wake him up so then um she kept on trying to get me back to bed like a dump walking off and like I was just obviously in bad shape like and then eventually she got me back to my room and woke me up and I was just so disorientated like it was like I was really drunk I just did not know what was going on and then she's like right take these tablets and I took them and she gave me some chocolate bars and stuff and I took them. I was fine after about five minutes, but I don't recall any of it apart from the getting better stage. I don't recall getting out of bed or anything. It was just really weird. My bloods were, well, I'd say in American terms, they'd be about 19. They were crazy low.

[00:21:51] Rob Howe: Yeah, I think the lowest I think I've ever been is 18. And I felt terrible. I was like, oh no.

[00:21:58] Luke Byrne: Like literally, when I kind of came back to myself I just literally watched this happen, it was crazy my mum was kind of half crying half laughing, she was so worried but at the same time she knew I was alright she thought it was funny then but that's really the only one that I have really

[00:22:17] Rob Howe: isn't it funny how when you're coming back from that you feel like Super Mario you're eating a mushroom and you're just growing like oh

[00:22:24] Luke Byrne: it's weird the best way I could describe it is like if you could personify a car running on empty, I would feel, it's like, just really weird, like, it's just like you're running on nothing.

[00:22:36] Rob Howe: Yeah, you can't accelerate as fast, you know, you feel weird, the balance is off. It's a crazy feeling. Yeah, that's a good, that's a good analogy. What do you, you know, have you, have you met any other, like, diabetic, encountered any other diabetic friends, or anything like that?

[00:22:55] Luke Byrne: There's a, there's a girl in my class in college who's diabetic. and she is a pump as well she seems to handle it pretty well she's a lot more strict on herself than I would be but I mean it's different things for different people what works for her might not work for me what works for me might not work for her but we don't really talk about it too much diabetes it wouldn't be the first thing I'd tell people even my friends are kind of like jeez I forget you're diabetic stab yourself when I work about the insulin oh yeah you have diabetes I'm like yeah

[00:23:27] Rob Howe: I really forget sometimes it doesn't go away no but I mean yeah like she seems to handle it pretty well

[00:23:34] Luke Byrne: and like she seems to live a pretty normal life too so do you know it doesn't seem to stop the people that I know and like I go to hospital every three months for my checkups and it's like a clinic so like loads of diabetes better people go there and then they all seem pretty healthy as well and happy so like I don't really know too many diabetics but the ones that I do know are happy enough.

[00:23:55] Rob Howe: And that's the thing about this as well, is sometimes you don't know who they are. Yeah. You don't know who's the diabetic, and I find myself surprised sometimes. I think probably like three or four times I've been in line at like a restaurant or a Chipotle or – and my like – because my pump has this like little cord, you know, that plugs into my body, and like – so it's in my pocket, and so the little cord sometimes sticks out. So someone will come up and they'll be like, hey, like I saw your cord, like I've got one too. And so they know what they're looking for. Yeah. and that's cool I think you know meeting other people because we're quiet about it you know we're not it's not something that everybody broadcasts because it's not embarrassing but

[00:24:35] Luke Byrne: no I'd never be embarrassed I mean I could go anywhere like any restaurant it doesn't matter whether it's in a five star restaurant or a McDonald's I'm sitting there I'm ready to eat I'm going to take a mindset and check myself in the place I'm not going to go somewhere private and do it if someone wants to look let them look and take pictures like I don't mind like it's just my thing and they're able to eat without having to do it. So it's not their problem. If they do have a problem with it, then they shouldn't. That's just my opinion on it.

[00:25:02] Rob Howe: I'm the same way, man. I used to get upset because I was proud of who I am with my diabetes. I was not going to be discriminated against, just like that letter that your dad wrote. And I think I remember talking to your parents about that. It's discrimination. And a lot of people think, they look at diabetes like, they must have done something to get that. Yeah, exactly. But there's nothing you can do. One day, your pancreas and cells turn on each other, and no one knows why. So trying to create awareness, trying to do our part, we just got to spread the word to try to get that cure done, man.

[00:25:45] Luke Byrne: That's the truth. Because it's not about us, it's about people down the line. Because there might not be people as headstrong as people like ourselves. and it could totally go on a downward spiral. So you just got to make sure that people know, like, it is okay to be diabetic and it is okay to be different and whatever they have to do to deal with it, like, it's okay. And I think not enough people realize that, like. Yeah. Like, insulin can be a depressant, like, and people can get pretty down over it. So, you know, raising awareness is definitely very important.

[00:26:19] Rob Howe: If you had to say, you know, if you could say one thing to somebody who had just gotten diabetes or wanted to be an athlete or what would you tell somebody who was just starting out on this journey?

[00:26:33] Luke Byrne: I'd be really, really cheesy and I would tell them don't let anyone stop you from doing what you want to do. It's the truest thing I could ever tell someone. Because I mean unless you have no limbs at all and can't move don't let someone try and stop you. Because I mean I don't know if you've heard of Sir Steve Redgrave. I don't think I have. He was a rower for Great Britain, and he has loads of gold medals, type 1 diabetic, in rowing. And that's such a tough sport. He has multiple gold medals. I just look at him and I think, wow. If he can row that hard and that fast for such a length of time,

[00:27:12] Unknown speaker: I can go in a ring and beat somebody up. like you know

[00:27:16] Rob Howe: yeah

[00:27:17] Luke Byrne: it's like no one should be able to not do what they want because I mean I read like I love the Guinness World Record books I'm a big collector I must have like at least 15 years of them all around and last year I read them and there was one for boxing there was a guy with one hand he had just a stump on his right hand yet he could still box and I was like to myself and these guys are going to try and stop me from boxing when I just have a broken pancreas I mean it just doesn't make sense so like All I'd say to them is just look after yourself and you will be alright back. But if you don't, it's up to you. How your life pans out with diabetes is totally up to you. It is literally your goal. If you want to be an athlete and you're already fit and you're ready to go, then you should be ready to do it.

[00:28:03] Rob Howe: 100%. So, what's next for you? What are we going to see? Now you've got your injury rehab, you're going into 2016, what are we going to see from Luke Byrne sugar free Luke Byrne in the ring here in the next couple of years

[00:28:22] Luke Byrne: well next year the plan is now I'm literally just cutting weight so bad right now running with bin bags and doing a lot of HIIT training and just getting that weight down and then up in New Year start getting back into the boxing gym start getting sparring again and hopefully bring an Irish title home next year and then after that then be looking to get onto the Irish squad start representing my country worldwide and see how that goes and see where I go with the high performance squad I mean we've actually recently lost our head coach to the USA women's team he he moved and took over to MLAC and that's great for women's boxing in America

[00:29:02] Rob Howe: yeah it's super big for us we actually just finished our women's trials over here I was following that pretty close I know Billy Walsh

[00:29:11] Luke Byrne: personally and he's a great guy. You can get a better man for the job. So, like, that's... Kudos to you. That's amazing.

[00:29:17] Rob Howe: That's a big win for... Women's boxing in the US has grown so much. I'm really happy with all the girls that are involved with that. They do an awesome job.

[00:29:29] Luke Byrne: So, hopefully now, we get quite good coverage in Ireland. So, obviously, boxing is literally our main sport, really, apart from the GAA and rugby. Like, amateur-wise, boxing is our best. so we get national coverage for the national finals and stuff. So it would be cool to make the TV and get a bit of a name for myself, especially with the Sugar Free nickname that I have for myself. So we'll see what happens with it and just see where the road takes me until 2020 and hopefully I get to Tokyo. Yeah.

[00:30:03] Rob Howe: You should go, man. I'm pulling for you, I think, obviously. I just got back from Tokyo. myself, I was there visiting. It'd be a cool place to go box for the Olympics, telling you that.

[00:30:16] Luke Byrne: I mean, like, I'm undefeated so far as a senior. So, hopefully, just keep that streak going in 2016, and you know, keep knocking people out, and just get on my way to get that plane ticket.

[00:30:27] Rob Howe: Yeah, that's right, man. Well, I wish you the best of luck.

[00:30:33] Luke Byrne: Thank you very much.

[00:30:34] Rob Howe: Yeah, man. And, you know, obviously, I'm going to keep in touch with you. I'm super excited that you came on the show. Thank you very much for having me. It's been a pleasure. Thanks for listening to Diabetics Doing Things. Subscribe to our newsletter for weekly emails and behind the scenes content. And if you or someone you know has an amazing story to share, send an email to rob at diabeticsdoingthings.com