Life out of quarantine - Christiaan van Vuuren

Aussie lad Christiaan van Vuuren gained fame in a most unexpected way. A few weeks after returning from a trip to South America, Christiaan was diagnosed with tuberculosis and was quarantined in hospital to receive critical treatment. Just 9 days in to his first stint in quarantine, Christiaan decided to ‘rap’ his way out of the boredom and use YouTube to connect with the outside world. Thousands of people were soon clicking on his hospital-based, comedy rap videos, including Life in Quarantine. This series of videos now has had almost 2.3 million views worldwide.

Better known as the Fully Sick Rapper, Christiaan is now almost fully recovered and in the final stage of his 18-month long treatment of multi-drug resistant TB. Christiaan has hooked up with the Centenary Institute this World TB Day to share his story and help raise awareness about this global killer.

“When I got back from an overseas trip I was buzzing – it had been an awesome holiday. It was the end of the year and I was looking forward to all the parties and festivals that were coming up. But after a few weeks I started to feel sick – really sick. Then I started coughing blood. I called triple zero immediately. After a few tests I was told I had tuberculosis, which was a huge shock.

“I was quarantined for a few weeks so they could monitor my treatment. After which I was given the all clear. But after two weeks out I was back in the hospital again because I didn’t have a regular type of tuberculosis. Tests found I had a multi-drug resistant kind, which is much more difficult to treat. I was on a cocktail of six medications and I had to be in hospital for almost seven months. All my visitors had to wear masks and protective gear because TB is spread when the bacteria becomes airborne so I could’ve given it to someone by coughing, sneezing or just speaking.”

It was during this second, extended stint in quarantine that Christiaan (with help from his brother Connor) used social media to connect with the world outside through his hit YouTube clips about being treated for tuberculosis. They also helped raise awareness about tuberculosis and got people talking about this forgotten disease.

“I did it to beat the boredom and show my friends I was staying positive despite the seriousness of my situation. But it was great to hear that the videos entertained and educated and it was nice to comment with people in the outside world. Many of whom were also feeling alone and isolated because of their own circumstances. I even got an email from someone at the World Health Organization who said they’d been watching the series and they wanted to me a record a message for World TB Day last year, which was quite surreal.”

While he still has a few months left of his 18-month treatment, Christiaan has been out of the hospital for about nine months and he’s making the most of every day.

“When you’ve had a serious illness you realise that life’s too short. Being diagnosed with tuberculosis was crazy but it helped me discover something I love doing – making movies. I’m also learning to surf and playing the guitar again. I’m doing sorts of things that I’m really passionate about each day.  Like creating a doco on this amazing bunch of ex-soldiers in America called the Wounded Warriors or interviewing Aussie stars at Tropfest.”

Christiaan and his brother also recently won the Optus One80 Project. They now have funding to turn a short 180-second pilot they filmed about for the competition into an hour long drama.

“It’s just unfortunate that so many people won’t get a second chance at life like me. At the moment, too many people around the world are not getting the right treatment for tuberculosis and dying unnecessarily from this disease.”

For World TB Day 2011, Christiaan signed on as a Centenary Institute Agent (CIA) to continue his mission to help raise awareness about the need to prevent and control TB through management programs and TB research.

Please join Centenary Institute and contribute to our research to overcome TB.  Visit www.tb.org.au or click the button on the left to donate.