Man left 'slowly dying' with bleeding eyes after making terrible mistake at friend's house

An Australian man has been left “slowly dying” and with bleeding eyes after making one major mistake while visiting a friend.

The life-changing medical incident occurred when 33-year-old roofer Chris Capper was visiting a friend in Mount Elliot, northern Queensland and drank some water there.

The water was from a spring and unfiltered, and it started to make Capper feel very unwell. The former roofer, who had only just moved to the surrounding area, visited the hospital on several occasions because of his symptoms, but it wasn’t until doctors performed an X-ray that it showed he had a hole in his lungs.

Within six weeks, a third of Capper’s lungs had been “eaten”, causing his kidneys to fail and arthritis to target his joints.

Doctors diagnosed Capper with nontuberculous mycobacteria disease (NTM), which is caused by bacteria that reside in water, soil and dust.

For most people, the presence of nontuberculous mycobacteria in their system doesn’t result in severe disease, but outcomes can differ depending on pre-existing conditions and health, the amount of exposure and the virulence of the bacteria.

Capper is now on 16 different tablets per day, including four different types of antibiotics, but doctors don’t know for certain what his prognosis is.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Capper said: “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.”

“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.”

The publication reports that one medic said Capper is “slowly dying” and that the infection is “likely incurable”.

“Our goal is really to try and suppress the infection and buy him some time,” the medic reportedly wrote.

Capper has set up a GoFundMe to help with his medical costs.

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