Born in Dublin in 1970, John Keeler was diagnosed with diabetes on 15 May 1975.
He went to the BDA’s (British Diabetes Association, now Diabetes UK) Youth Diabetic Weekend in 1996, and since then he became more involved with people with diabetes. He has facilitated many small groups both in Ireland and England, has been involved in the setting up of Ireland’s young person’s groups, counselled people with the condition, and has been a voluntary leader on many children’s and teenager’s diabetic camps.
John edited Identity (the magazine of the DFI [Diabetes Federation of Ireland]), now called Diabetes Ireland, from 2000 to 2001, and in 2001 he had an article published about his exploits at the European Masters Swimming Championships that year in Majorca, Spain, where he competed, published in Diabetes Voice, the magazine of the International Diabetes Federation (which is published in English, French and Spanish), where he competed.
In addition, he was a member of the record-breaking ‘Four Peaks Challenge’ team in 1997, has competed at the Irish judo championships, as well as many international club swim meets/galas. John has, at various times, played soccer, Gaelic football, judo, qualified as a lifeguard, taught children how to swim, completed a distance-learning course in social sciences, gained a qualification in counselling, and plans to go into counselling/psychology professionally, to work especially with people with diabetes. Less