Breaking The Tackle

Former Wallaby Nathan Charles Is The Only Person With Cystic Fibrosis Ever To A Play A Contact Sport Professionally. His Story Can Inspire Anyone Who Wants To Achieve Something Extraordinary.

- Ben Jhoty

THEY SAY YOU CAN learn a lot about a man from his handshake. Firm with solid eye contact is the default for most Aussie men. Anything less invites scorn. But what if this most earnest, most masculine of gestures was freighted with uncertainty and risk? What if the simple act of greeting a mate or congratulating an opposing player on the sporting field had the potential to threaten everything you’ve ever held dear?

So it was for Nathan Charles, the only person with cystic fibrosis ever to play a contact sport at an elite level. His whole life has been about taking precautions and diminishing risk. Today, upon arriving at Sydney’s Henson Park for a photo shoot with Men’s Health he extends his hand unguardedly. But there was a time when Charles didn’t like to shake hands at all. Instead he fists bumped or just nodded.

He didn’t share drink bottles with his teammates, either. Again, too risky. He had too much at stake, too much to lose. It wasn’t just the chance he’d pick up a cold or the flu. It was that a virus could weaken his immune system, opening the door for his underlying staph infection to wreak havoc upon his respiratory system. That could put him in hospital for weeks. Charles could handle that. He’s put up with it his whole life. What he couldn’t handle was that the illness would hurt his rugby career. He’d fought too hard and overcome too much to do anything that might jeopardise that.