Chris Capper, from Australia, was visiting a friend in Mount Elliot, northern Queensland, after moving to a nearby area to look after his ill father in 2021.
However, the former roofer made the error of drinking some unfiltered spring water, which made him seriously unwell.
Having visited the doctors several times, they were initially left stumped by the symptoms, but that was until an X-ray showed that Chris had a hole in his lungs.
Chris Capper has a ‘likely incurable’ infection (GoFundMe)
And after just six weeks, the disease had ‘eaten’ up a third of his lung, caused his kidneys to fail, along with arthritis in some of his joints.
The lung disease Chris is suffering from is called nontuberculous mycobacteria disease (NTM), which consists of bacteria found in soil, water and dust.
“The severity of disease, how it is treated, and the likelihood of recovery can vary widely from person to person,” the American Lung Association states.
“Some of the factors that impact the course of someone’s NTM lung disease are the virulence of the organism, the amount of exposure they’ve gotten, and their overall health.”
The association explains that for most people, having nontuberculous mycobacteria in the system is usually fine, but if there’s already underlying health issues at play then it can be a problem.
Chris is now on 16 tablets a day, which includes four types of antibiotics, although doctors aren’t able to confirm when or if his condition will improve.
Chris has nontuberculous mycobacteria disease (GoFundMe)
“I can’t help myself at all and the doctors don’t know much about the bug so it just feels like they’re waiting for me to die,” he told Daily Mail Australia.
“My brain is stuffed from all this medication and they don’t even know if it’s going to work.
“I live in a rural town and they’ve got this attitude of ‘you’ll be right’ but I’m from the city where you ask for help and get it.
“My hip is shattered, I’ve got stomach ulcers and my eyes bleed. The doctors call it modern day tuberculosis.”
As per a report seen by the news outlet, one of the doctors said that Chris ‘is slowly dying’ and the infection was ‘likely incurable’.
“Our goal is really to try and suppress the infection and buy him some time,” the medic reportedly penned in a letter.
A GoFundMe has since been set up by Chris in order to raise money for his medical costs.
On the page, he said: “I’m always sick, I’ve also got type 1 diabetes and sarcoidosis and autoimmune disease and cystic fibrosis.
“On top well I have uncontrollable diabetes due to steroids and just can’t eat as much due to nerve damage in my stomach.
“I’m just so sick, I don’t have any family alive to help physically or financially, my friends can only do so much.”
