Determined to create awareness

Bill Van Nierop is a loving Brisbane husband, father and grandfather, and a double lung transplant recipient. He is on a mission to spread awareness of lung disease and raise funds for research that improves outcomes for those impacted by lung disease and transplantation. 

At the beginning of 2015, Bill was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) – a progressive lung disease with no cause or cure. Upon diagnosis, he was told he had a 50% chance of surviving the next three years and a 20% chance of seeing another five. He refused to accept this fate and fortunately was placed on a drug trial through a team at TPCH. Prior to his diagnosis, he led an active and healthy life, walking most days, so the then 63-year-old was determined to stay as healthy as he could, so that one day he might be considered for a lung transplant. But for Bill, he not only wanted the best outcome for himself and his own family – he wanted to help others with lung disease who were experiencing a similar journey to his own.

“Lung disease impacted our lives, but I wouldn’t let it impact how we lived our lives.”

Bill found there is a lack of community awareness and understanding of IPF and other lung diseases and, consequently, a lack of empathy. As a result, he has undertaken several fundraising and awareness-boosting activities, including the Long Walk for Lungs in 2017 – a 700 km walk, and the Long Kayak for Lungs 1 in 2018 – a 2200km kayak down the Murray River. Combined, these activities raised over $210,000 for the Lung Foundation Australia. 

A death sentence reversed

Former stonemason Anthony Constantine received a death sentence in 2020. After years of working in locations drenched in stone dust, he’d developed artificial stone silicosis.

Silicosis affects tradespeople who inhale toxic silica dust while cutting engineered stone products such as kitchen benchtops. The silica dust settles in the lungs, leading to internal scarring (fibrosis) that prevents lungs from working.

“Normally bacteria in the lungs are fought off by the immune system, but silica crystals don’t break down like bacteria. This causes the immune system to go into overdrive, leading to lung inflammation and scarring. This simply means that the lungs cease to function properly, and people cannot breathe,” says Professor Dan Chambers, TPCH’s Head of Lung Transplant and Lung Fibrosis Research. He, together with TPCH Senior Research Fellow Dr Simon Apte and a team of lung researchers, developed a new treatment for silicosis called whole lung lavage (WLL). 

WLL treatment washes out damaging silica crystals and damaged cells, effectively ‘rinsing out’ the lungs in what can be a four to five-hour procedure. 

For Anthony, that meant that in a single day, his death sentence was reversed.

“Just knowing that horrible stuff is not inside me anymore is just such a relief, I’m not stressed about it anymore. My mental load has been lifted,” he said. “Having this procedure has truly changed my life, I can’t thank everyone enough.”

One of our beloved ‘Charlie’s Angels’

Noela, 91, is a beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, who’s lived in her beautiful family home in Brisbane for more than 60 years.

In October 2022, Noela was admitted to The Prince Charles Hospital for treatment of her chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and an existing heart condition. 

But Noela isn’t just your typical patient. After her husband underwent open heart surgery at The Prince Charles Hospital in the 1970s, the couple wanted to give back. Noela became a beloved ‘Charlie’s Angel’ – one of our adored volunteers who assists patients, visitors, and staff throughout the hospital.

With reduced muscle strength after her treatments, Noela’s mobility decreased dramatically. It’s only through rehab and physiotherapy that she regained enough strength to leave hospital. Noela was determined to continue her physio exercises at home and get stronger before seeing her extended family for Christmas.

“When you’re in your own familiar surroundings, and you’re doing more for yourself, I think that makes you recover quicker,” she says.

Noela sees the value in the projects that The Common Good wishes to support at The Prince Charles Hospital and Caboolture Hospital that will help older patients, like her, to maintain their mobility while they’re in hospital. She understands that having the opportunity to stay active in hospital with volunteer assistance, in most cases, means a faster recovery and a quicker return to home.

Without the time and effort of volunteers like Noela, life for COPD patients would be much less rich.

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