5 Things to Know About England centre Henry Slade

Henry Slade is the first high-profile British sportsperson to speak publicly of his concerns, which defy the advice of Government and clinicians.

Here are five things you should know about the England and Exeter Chiefs centre.

Henry Slade has Type 1 diabetes, and often injects insulin at half-time in a game.

When asked if diabetes has changed him, Slade answered: “I wouldn’t say it’s changed my life. The way I look at it is you can’t change what’s happened to you. I’ve got diabetes and it’s something I just have to live with.

“It’s frustrating having diabetes, but it doesn’t stop you doing anything. You can do whatever you want, it’s just about having control and changing things like when you go out – you need something you can eat if you have a hypo.

“It shouldn’t limit you any way physically, though. It’s not going to affect how fast you can run or how strong you are. It’s just a matter of controlling it and if you can do that then there’s nothing you can’t do.”

Slade welcomed his first child, Olive Margot, with his long-term partner Megan Browse in August 2020. She's a cutie!

Slade lives with obsessive compulsive-disorder, OCD to those that know it best. 

'The boys in the dressing room would be laughing at me, watching me tying my laces for 15 minutes,' Slade says. 'The laces on these trainers here, they are different now to what they would have been. I'd have needed to make them perfectly flat on both feet. They would have got to me if they were like this.

'It sounds strange, but if something like that wasn't right, or if I hadn't put my boots on right, and we are only talking a couple of years ago, then I would worry about something going wrong to me, or friends or family.

'I know it is ridiculous, but that is the way I was.'

Of course, Slade is a dog guy and Frank is his best friend.

Following the birth of his daughter, he's traded in his Porsche for a Jeep.