{"id":420844,"date":"2026-01-18T08:18:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T08:18:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/420844\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T08:18:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T08:18:14","slug":"north-melbourne-afl-star-paul-curtis-evacuated-from-overseas-holiday-with-life-threatening-illness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/420844\/","title":{"rendered":"North Melbourne AFL star Paul Curtis evacuated from overseas holiday with life-threatening illness"},"content":{"rendered":"

North Melbourne<\/a> star Paul Curtis has revealed he feared for his life and his AFL<\/a> career after becoming violently ill overseas, prompting a medical evacuation back to Australia.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old was rushed from Bali to Perth for emergency surgery late last year.<\/p>\n

Speaking exclusively with 7NEWS about the horrific ordeal, Curtis said he was floored by the urgency around the situation.<\/p>\n

Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Arrow<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThey pretty much said I needed to be hospitalised right now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I was like, ooh.\u201d<\/p>\n

Infectious diseases expert Dr Clay Golledge summed up the situation with the scary truth: \u201cA serious, very serious, life-threatening illness and he could have died from this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Curtis\u2019s health scare began well before he was in Bali, with something feeling off when he touched down in London for an end-of-season trip with Roos teammates.<\/p>\n

A bad flu turned into pneumonia but that was just the beginning.<\/p>\n

Turned away from a London hospital one day, he went back a day later still feeling he was suffocating.<\/p>\n

\"CurtisCurtis reacted to his antibiotics while flying from London to Bali. Credit: 7NEWS<\/p>\n

\u201cI waited eight hours to get seen … I went up to the front desk and I said \u2018guys, I can\u2019t breathe\u2019,\u201d Curtis recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI finally got seen and they just gave me some stronger meds. I was in there for 10 minutes and they said \u2018you\u2019re all good\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dr Golledge said in his opinion it was \u201creprehensible\u201d that Curtis was told he was OK to get on a plane and fly to Bali with oral antibiotics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe level of care that he was given at this hospital (in London) was incredibly substandard,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Sixteen hours into his flight to Bali, where he was planning to meet up with partner Kelera, Curtis had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just swelled up, my face just puffed up, I had a rash all over my body,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy feet swelled up so I couldn\u2019t walk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CurtisCurtis was hospitalised after landing in Bali, then plans quickly formed to get him back to Australia. Credit: 7NEWS<\/p>\n

A visit to a Bali hospital finally revealed the diagnosis: an empyema, a potentially life-threatening build-up of fluid and puss on his lungs.<\/p>\n

Indonesian doctors tried more antibiotics \u2014 but it didn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

Curtis would need emergency surgery and was flown in a medivac plane to Perth for the operation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmbulance all the way straight onto the airport strip, get wheeled off the ambulance, straight onto the place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cGot all hooked up on oxygen and all the rest of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Curtis was immediately rushed into surgery at Hollywood Hospital in Nedlands.<\/p>\n

Almost a litre of puss was removed from his lung, with a tube inserted to catch the rest of the infection.<\/p>\n

He remained in hospital for another eight days.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was a serious life-threatening illness,\u201d Dr Golledge said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe certainly well could have died if he didn\u2019t have instant medical and surgical attention when he got here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"TheThe full extent of Curtis\u2019s situation was still unknown when he boarded the plane. Credit: 7NEWS<\/p>\n

Curtis said the ordeal took its toll.<\/p>\n

\u201cI looked really skinny in the face, you could see the bones in my cheeks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t walk more than 50 metres without getting tired and having to have a rest.\u201d<\/p>\n

After a brutal three-month recovery, Curtis remarkably remains a chance to play in Round 1 in eight weeks\u2019 time.<\/p>\n

Throughout his time in hospital and the difficult period that followed Curtis\u2019s focus was on his three-year-old son Elijah.<\/p>\n

Video calls from hospital beds kept him going.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m missing dadda, I\u2019m missing dadda,\u201d Curtis recalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was showing me all his toys. I knew I had to be healthy first to provide for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s given me a good perspective on life, I guess, and how quickly things can change, and some things just aren\u2019t in your control.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just so grateful for all the people who helped me get back to where I am now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CurtisCurtis wanted to get healthy for son Elijah and his family, including partner Kelera. Credit: 7NEWSRead more AFL news<\/p>\n

Geelong trio jet off to Europe for once in a lifetime opportunity<\/p>\n

2 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Retired AFL star finally joins desired club after a \u2018few attempts\u2019<\/p>\n

2 min read<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"North Melbourne star Paul Curtis has revealed he feared for his life and his AFL career after becoming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420845,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,1625,7204,3863,588,85],"class_list":["post-420844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-lifestyle","tag-north-melbourne-kangaroos","tag-sponsored-content","tag-sport","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}