Man who suffered huge health scare aged 18 proceeded to defy all odds

A brave young man was able to turn his life around and go on an inspiring journey despite experiencing health issues all his life.

27-year-old Bradley Dryburgh looks like any another 20-something guy.

But - like many across the world - the illnesses he has are invisible.

Bradley has been candid about his health struggles and regularly talks about the difficulties he has faced on his podcast, A Lot To Talk About.

Bradley has been living with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) and doctors diagnosed him with the lung-damaging genetic illness at just three weeks old.

Media professionals shockingly told Bradley’s parents 'he’d be better off with a terminal illness like cancer', as it would 'either kill him or he would miraculously recover from it', unlike CF which would 'ruin his life'.

Instagram/@bradleyjdryburgh

He was also diagnosed with liver disease when he was nine and diabetes at 13, both related to his CF.

Despite this prediction from doctors, Bradley has done his best to live a normal life while growing up in Wollongong, Australia.

However, when he hit his late teens his health took an even worse turn.

“At 18, I was challenged by my first real obstacle with cystic fibrosis when I began coughing up blood after a week of being unwell,” he told 7Life.

“Until this point, I had been told that if I was to ever cough up blood that I had to present to emergency immediately as there was a risk it could be fatal.”

It was at the tender age of 18, Bradley realized the seriousness of his illnesses and was convinced he didn’t have much longer to live.

“It was the beginning of a six-year pattern in which every year I would find myself unwell again with another damaging lung infection,” he added.

However, in 2020, after three days of consecutive bleeding, he decided to prepare to run a marathon.

Instagram/@bradleyjdryburgh

“I decided to run a marathon by the end of the year, to prove that cystic fibrosis doesn’t define me, or any of us, but how we chose to respond to it does,” Bradley said.

“Alongside Cystic Fibrosis Australia, we created the inaugural ‘#42forCf event’, despite many hurdles, including some more bleeds, in the lead up to the big day."

He says the event, which is no longer held, went on to be a three-part endeavour over two years.

And it raised more than $120,000 for research, development and advocacy of life-saving drugs for those diagnosed with CF.

Bradley has so far run four marathons and a 50km ultramarathon and shows no signs of stopping.