West Coast small forward Jamie Cripps prides himself on pressuring opposition defenders, winning hard balls and booting goals on the field.

But when he’s not lining up for the mighty Eagles, Cripps throws himself into another worth cause - raising awareness for Diabetes WA.

The 24-year-old was diagnosed with type one diabetes when he was 18 years old, just a week before being picked up by St Kilda in the 2010 AFL Draft.

Cripps said the diagnosis was a shock to the system.

“You are unaware of it until it gets pretty bad,” Cripps said.

“I lost 10kg at one stage and got really sick before I was diagnosed. I hadn’t seen my parents for a couple of weeks and when they saw me they knew something wasn’t right.’

As a professional athlete, Cripps is fortunate to have medical professionals by his side monitoring his progress on a daily basis, but he is well aware that is a luxury, not the norm.

“Without that support I would definitely need to seek help from Diabetes WA,” Cripps said.

In an effort to raise awareness about the 120,000 people living with diabetes in Western Australia, Cripps has signed on as Diabetes WA’s official ambassador for Sunday’s HBF Run for a Reason – and he’s bringing the West Coast Eagles along as a running buddy.

West Coast has nominated Diabetes WA as its charity of choice for the event, so if you are a one-eyed Eagles supporter, get behind your favourite team and support its fundraising effort by making a donation at https://hbfrun2016.everydayhero.com/au/west-coast-eagles-1