Ashley McKenzie: ADHD wrecked my life until I discovered judo

Britain’s number one judo champion Ashley McKenzie, 25, competed at London 2012 for Team GB and won gold at the Commonwealth Games. This is all the more staggering because he has also fought to control his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder since childhood.

For as long as I can remember, I’d always been a naughty kid. Whether it was right or wrong, if I wanted something I would take it, if I wanted to do something, I’d do it.

Nobody thought there was anything seriously wrong with me though, and ADHD wasn’t obvious at that point.

I had physical health issues though. I’d been born with a hole in my heart and needed surgery when I was 18 months, and I needed hearing aids because I was 60% deaf in one ear and 40% in the other.

I also suffered from eczema and asthma, though they were mild. I had fits as a result of epilepsy which seemed to stop before I reached my teens and generally, I was a pretty fit kid. But by the age of 11, my bad boy ­behaviour was becoming a real issue.

It started with small things when I was about five. At home in London with my mum, dad and two brothers Aaron, 27, and Jack, 20, if someone ran a bath I’d just jump in it. It didn’t matter whether I wanted a bath, or if it was for someone else, impulsively I’d just have to jump in. My parents thought I was mischievous, but as I got older things got worse.

Then aged seven, I kicked some boy in the head and was expelled from school. Then I was excluded over 60 times from a new school in Hackney. At eight, I started getting into fights and flying off the handle all the time. It was so hard for my mum Susan because I was constantly being expelled from any primary school I went to.

When I reached secondary school, I got a lot of help from a teacher, Melissa Johns, but then I got sent to a special school for kids with behavioural problems. I must have had about 100 exclusion notes sent home with me from that school alone.

Finally, at 11, I was assessed and ­diagnosed with ADHD and placed on Ritalin, a drug which helps regulate ­chemicals in the brain, which I took three times a day. It really calmed me down and made me feel like a normal kid. The trouble was it also reduced my energy and made me tired all the time. It wasn’t a long-term solution.

I was still so violent and abusive, usually to other kids, that my mum agreed to have me placed inside a psychiatric unit for six months. She just couldn’t discipline me because I had no remorse. I didn’t care about life and had no fear of consequences

But it was an awful experience. If you were naughty they would put you in what they called the ‘cosy room’, which was basically a padded cell. The walls were really high with a security camera at the top, and the only air in the room came from a window with bars over it.

It just felt like being in prison and I ended up in the ‘cosy room’ a couple of times. I think my mum knew how horrible it was, but she did it for my own good.

I could go home for a couple of days at the end of the week and every time I’d have to leave her I’d cry and cry.

I just didn’t think a naughty boy deserved that much ­punishment. It just felt so wrong to me.

Then one day I got into a fight with a guy over Pokemon cards and he just threw me with a judo move. I was amazed and from there I joined the same club as him, Moberly Judo Club, in Kilburn, North West London.

I still had a temper and attacked other kids, but I never misbehaved when I was at judo . And as I got into my teens, judo played a big part in gradually calming me down.

When I started to get really good at it, judo gave me a focus for all my energy and anger. Even then, I knew, without it, I would have ended up in prison.

Judo made me change so much. Throughout my teenage years my mum would say: “If you behave for me all week, you can go to judo.” And that was enough to keep me on the right tracks.

Everyone could see how hard I was trying to keep it under control. And most importantly, when I started competing, I couldn’t take Ritalin any more as it was a banned substance in professional judo, so was a good way for me to stop.

I initially trained once a week, then three times a week, and within a couple of months I started competing

in tournaments.

By the age of 19, I’d won the British Judo Open. From there, I went on to scoop both the judo World Cup and European ­Championships before taking part in the London Olympics 2012.

I missed out on a medal, but some of my pride was restored last year when I won gold for England in the Commonwealth Games under 66kg judo final in Glasgow.

The constant need for discipline keeps my ADHD in check, and I take supplements like whey protein and fish oil, which helps me to focus.

I’m ticking off the days until Rio 2016 and nothing, especially not my ADHD, is going to get in my way.