local qualifying<\/a> events to take his place in golf\u2019s oldest major, is no normal British Open participant.<\/p>\nAlso making him different is what he packs in his golf bag for each round: As important as his clubs is his medication, with Howard taking up to 30 tablets a day to prevent infection and help digest food properly.<\/p>\n
Cystic fibrosis causes thick, sticky mucus to build up in the body, which can lead to damage, blockages and infections in the lungs and other affected organs.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no cure for this condition that requires life-long care, but new treatments can manage symptoms and have given Howard a new lease of life.<\/p>\n
He doesn\u2019t hide away from his previous struggles. Like turning to alcohol in his late teenage years when thinking he \u201cwasn\u2019t going to be here much longer\u201d or what he described as \u201cmanic episodes and psychosis\u201d during the pandemic when he couldn\u2019t get out of bed or talk to anyone for weeks.<\/p>\n
Now, he has gotten his life together. He decided to stop working as a mechanic at the end of 2023 \u2014 he still dabbles in it, mainly fixing his family members\u2019 cars \u2014 and focus full-time on golf.<\/p>\n
That comes with its health benefits, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a mechanic, working in dusty garages probably wasn\u2019t ideal for me,\u201d Howard said. \u201cBeing in the fresh air, around the coastlines with salty air, it\u2019s really good. Hot weather is also good for CF, but there\u2019s just a few things you need to keep on top of.\u201d<\/p>\n
He takes digestive enzymes every time he eats to break down fatty foods, so plenty of them will be needed for each round at Birkdale, where his caddie will be his father, John. The cystic fibrosis unit in his local hospital in Cork, Ireland, gives him a daily plan and advice.<\/p>\n
Planning on going to Q-School<\/p>\n
Howard can still get sick, especially after flights, but instead of being hospitalized two or three times a year, he now can get by with a two-week course of antibiotics.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great we are living longer with CF compared to before,\u201d he said. \u201cLoads of positives to take from it \u2014 living adulthood is the next challenge, but that\u2019s a great thing to have to worry about.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s clear Howard cannot believe the position he has found himself in as he embarks on a golfing career that has already seen him win the East of Ireland championship and represent Ireland in home internationals. He will attend qualifying school later this year in an attempt to become a professional on the European tour.<\/p>\n
Since qualifying for the Open last month, Howard has been contacted by kids with cystic fibrosis and their parents, who have said they are using him as \u201csomeone to look up to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a big thing,\u201d he said. \u201cGrowing up with CF, it\u2019s a lonely enough thing \u2014 you don\u2019t meet other people with CF and really chat to them about it. So you\u2019re figuring it out all on your own.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good to show that not everything is negative and there are positives to take from it. That you can follow your dreams and get at it.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP golf: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/golf<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SOUTHPORT, England (AP) \u2014 David Howard was aged 7 when he was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. By the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":762496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[16334,18508,326295,427,97,243,11384,99],"class_list":["post-762495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-british-open-golf","tag-cystic-fibrosis","tag-david-howard","tag-golf","tag-health","tag-medication","tag-shane-lowry","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=762495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/762496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=762495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=762495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=762495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}