He beat cystic fibrosis and became a Wallaby. Now Nathan Charles is fighting another cruel disease

Nathan Charles’ voice breaks momentarily before he steadies himself and gets back to a lifelong routine, sizing up the next wave of adversity and figuring out how to manoeuvre. “I find it strange – I won’t use the word funny – but it’s ironic I was born with a life-threatening illness, and gave that a red-hot crack, and now this other thing comes along,” Charles said. “Something else is striking me down, rather than what I’ve been dealing with my whole life. ” After being diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at three months of age, Charles made history by overcoming the condition and playing rugby for the Wallabies in 2014. He is believed to be the only cystic fibrosis sufferer in the world to ever play a contact sport professionally.