{"id":421434,"date":"2026-01-18T15:26:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-18T15:26:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/421434\/"},"modified":"2026-01-18T15:26:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-18T15:26:12","slug":"afl-star-reveals-he-was-evacuated-from-bali-after-contracting-a-life-threatening-illness-that-left-him-struggling-to-breathe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/421434\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL star reveals he was evacuated from Bali after contracting a ‘life-threatening illness that left him struggling to breathe"},"content":{"rendered":"

North Melbourne youngster Paul Curtis has revealed that he was evacuated from Bali during the off-season, after he contracted a life-threatening illness and was later forced to undergo emergency surgery.<\/p>\n

At the conclusion of the 2025 season, the 22-year-old had travelled to the UK with a group of friends.<\/p>\n

However, while holidaying in London, the young Kangaroo contracted a bad flu<\/a>, which later turned into pneumonia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Curtis went to a hospital in London and revealed he was made to wait eight hours to be seen and ultimately did not receive the correct treatment.<\/p>\n

\u2018I went up to the front desk, and I said, like: \u201cGuys, I can\u2019t breathe\u201d,\u2019 he told 7News<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u2018I finally got seen, and they just gave me some stronger meds, and I was in there for 10 minutes, and they said: \u201cYou\u2019re all good\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n

He was given oral antibiotics and told he was \u2018OK\u2019 to get on a flight to Bali.<\/p>\n

\"North <\/p>\n

North Melbourne youngster Paul Curtis has revealed that he was evacuated from Bali during the off-season, after he contracted a life-threatening illness and was later forced to undergo emergency surgery<\/p>\n

\"Curtis <\/p>\n

Curtis revealed that he had been diagnosed with an illness called empyema, where fluid can build up in the cavities aroudn a person’s lungs (pictured with partner Kelera)\u00a0<\/p>\n

During the flight, the medium forward then began to suffer an allergic reaction to the antibiotics.<\/p>\n

\u2018I just swelled up, my face just puffed up, I had a rash all over my body,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018My feet swelled up so I couldn\u2019t walk.\u2019<\/p>\n

Images showed that his feet had ballooned due to the swelling, while Curtis also had several lumps appear on his forehead.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

He had been travelling to Bali to meet his partner, Kelera. But with his condition getting worse, he admitted himself to a Bali hospital.<\/p>\n

It was here that he was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness called empyema, a condition where fluid builds up in the cavities around a person\u2019s lungs.<\/p>\n

Empyema is caused by pneumonia and the symptoms can include difficulty breathing, a lack of energy and chest pain.<\/p>\n

Dr Clay Golledge told 7News<\/a>: \u2018[It is] a serious, very serious, life-threatening illness and he could have died from this.\u2019<\/p>\n

Curtis was placed on more antibiotics; however, his condition did not improve.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The 22-year-old North Melbourne star had been holidaying in Europe when he contracted pneumonia (pictured with team-mate Jackson Archer)<\/p>\n

\"Curtis <\/p>\n

Curtis had enjoyed a breakout season in 2025, booting a career-high 38 goals across 19 matches<\/p>\n

\"Curtis <\/p>\n

Curtis had flown to Bali to meet his partner Kelera (right) but had suffered an allergic reaction to medication he’d been given in London, durign the flight<\/p>\n

He was then transported back to Australia and taken to the Hollywood Hospital in Nedlands, Western Australia, where he would undergo emergency surgery.\u00a0<\/p>\n

7News<\/a> states that a litre of pus was removed from Curtis\u2019 lung.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old, who was drafted to the Kangaroos as a No 31 pick in 2021, stayed in hospital for eight days before being released.<\/p>\n

\u2018He certainly well could have died if he didn\u2019t have instant medical and surgical attention when he got here,\u2019 Dr Golledge said.<\/p>\n

After three weeks of rehabilitation, Curtis, who has a three-year-old son called Elijah, is now a chance to play in the Kangaroos Round One clash against Port Adelaide on March 15.<\/p>\n

The youngster enjoyed a breakout season in 2025, booting a career-high 38 goals across 19 matches.<\/p>\n

Curtis, meanwhile, has been reflecting on his ordeal, adding that he was thankful to all the people who helped him recover from the illness.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\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,\u2019 Curtis added.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m just so grateful for all the people that helped me get back to where I am now.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"North Melbourne youngster Paul Curtis has revealed that he was evacuated from Bali during the off-season, after he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421435,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,100,2022,588,85],"class_list":["post-421434","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-dailymail","tag-london","tag-sport","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421434","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=421434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}