A Dublin TikTok star has thanked a new cystic fibrosis drug for drastically transforming his life.
Benat Broderick, best known for his distinctive RTE newsreader voice on TikTok, has almost 62,000 followers on the app and over 1.5 million likes to date.
Even though the 18-year-old has many hilarious clips on his page, his main goal is to raise awareness and funds for those suffering with Cystic Fibrosis ahead of 65 Roses Day in 2022.
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The Sandyford lad told Dublin Live: “I was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when I was 19 months old. It’s a lung disease and I went through a bad patch a few years ago where I was requiring IV antibiotics.
“I was quite sick and needed to go to hospital every few weeks to get IV antibiotics for two weeks per admission."
But a new CF drug called Kaftrio came out and helped to change Benat's life.
"My lung function went up by about 20-25 percent," he said.
“I didn’t need hospitalisation for two years, it’s an incredible drug. I suppose I would’ve gained a lot of weight from it but it’s building up good health and I'm not needing the hospital as much.
“It’s hard to have a good quality of life when you’re in and out of hospital. It would’ve impacted school, seeing my friends, being in hospital meant that I was isolated from the outside world.”
The young man is eager to help people who are on the same boat as him with CF but unfortunately, he cannot meet those he is helping - making it a bit lonely for the community.
Benat explained: “Anyone with cystic fibrosis can’t actually meet each other because of infection reasons.
"We could easily pass bugs onto each other which would make us extremely sick - so the golden rule is that we really can’t be near each other.
“It’s really isolating, it’s not like a diabetic clinic where you can go and talk to other diabetic patients.
"With CF, you’re in a singular isolation room and you do your daily things alone, nebuliser, medications to keep us well as possible.”
The TikTok legend has been receiving praise for his funny and informative videos, and his main goal is to raise awareness rather than gain likes and followers.
He said: “I’m eager to spread the word and spread awareness about CF, we’ve 1,400 patients in Ireland with CF but I still think there’s a lot of misconceptions.
"Some people think it’s a cold, some people don’t fully understand and have a negative outlook on it.
“I want to increase the awareness and share my own story, everyone with CF has their own story. I’m using social media to share my story and share what life is like with CF.
“You can have a laugh to an extent, we’ve enough to put up with. I started my TikTok when I was in hospital back a few years ago. It was something to do and entertain myself but I got consumed more than I thought I would.
“One of the healthcare workers was showing me the TikTok he made, I didn’t understand it at the time, like everyone else. My first TikTok was quite embarrassing. It was me dancing in the hospital. I was doing a trend at the time about two and a half years ago.
“The end goal is to create awareness and utilise my social media platforms to help inform people. I’m not there to gain or make any money, it’s all to raise awareness - it’s the reason I’m there, I enjoy it and I’m passionate about it.”
You can donate to Benat's fundraiser here.
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