A brave young man was able to turn his life around and embark on an inspirational journey despite having lifelong health problems.
At 27 years old, Bradley Dryburgh looks like a normal guy in his 20s.
But like many people around the world, his illness is invisible.
Bradley has been open about his health struggles and regularly talks about the challenges he has faced on his podcast. so many things I want to talk about.
Doctors diagnosed Bradley with cystic fibrosis (CF), a genetic disease that damages his lungs, when he was just three weeks old.
Media experts warned Bradley’s parents that unlike CF, which “ruined lives,” “you either die or miraculously recover,” and told Bradley’s parents that it was a “cancer-like disease.” I’d rather be terminally ill,” he shockingly said.
He had also been diagnosed with liver disease at age 9 and diabetes at age 13, both related to his CF.
Despite doctors’ predictions, Bradley has done his best to live a normal life while growing up in Wollongong, Australia.
However, in his late teens, his health deteriorated further.
“When I was 18, I faced my first real disability, cystic fibrosis, when I started coughing up blood after being unwell for a week,” he told 7Life.
“Previously, if you coughed up blood, you were told to go to the emergency room immediately because it could be fatal.”
At the young age of 18, Bradley realized the seriousness of his illness and was convinced that he did not have much time left to live.
“It was the beginning of a six-year pattern of getting sick again every year with another harmful lung infection,” he added.
But in 2020, after bleeding for three days straight, he decided to prepare to run a marathon.
“I want to run a marathon by the end of the year to prove that cystic fibrosis doesn’t define me or us, but how we choose to respond to it. “I did it,” Bradley said.
“In partnership with Cystic Fibrosis Australia, we launched the first #42forCf event despite many hurdles, including further bleeding, in the run-up to the big day.”
The now-defunct event continued as a three-part effort over two years, he said.
And we’ve raised more than $120,000 for research, development, and advocacy for life-saving medicines for people diagnosed with CF.
Bradley has run four marathons and one ultramarathon and shows no signs of stopping.
