As she watched a video of her 26-year-old son reading his own eulogy, Dianne Dryburgh couldn’t hold back the tears.
“I know my passing leaves you all with grief that may never pass, but don’t let this loss dim your light,” Bradley says in the video.
“Life is a beautiful gift that should not be taken for granted. Live each day in my memory and write your own legacies that will echo in eternity.”
“I sobbed,” Dianne tells New Idea.
“It was heartbreaking, but beautiful. As a mum, especially after everything we’d been through, it hit me right in the heart.”
But Bradley wasn’t being morbid – and was still very much alive.
“I thought, what if we had to write our own eulogy while we’re still alive?” he says.
“We’d have the chance to reflect on the life we’re living and change the things we aren’t happy with.”
Diagnosed with cystic fibrosis as a baby, which causes mucus to build up in the lungs, doctors warned Dianne and Bradley’s dad, Darren, that he might not survive beyond his teenage years.
“I thought they’d made a mistake,” Dianne recalls.
“I was healthy, my pregnancy was healthy, and I’d never even heard of cystic fibrosis before.”
After weeks of disbelief, she made a promise.
“I thought, this is not going to define his life. I wanted it to be just a small pocket of Brad’s life, not the whole story.”
At a time when treatment options were far more limited, Dianne threw herself into helping her son thrive, focusing on physiotherapy, nutrition, fitness, and protecting him from infections.
“I believed if I could give Brad 30 years of wonderful, that was better than 60 years of rubbish,” she says.
Her determination paid off.
Bradley became a talented athlete, winning sprint titles and competing at state level.
“My parents never treated me like I was broken,” he says.
“They gave me confidence in my future.”
Even when a specialist warned that cystic fibrosis would ruin his life, Dianne and Darren refused to accept it.
“They walked out and never went back,” Bradley says.
Still, there were setbacks.
At nine, Bradley was diagnosed with liver disease and told he could no longer play rugby league.
“He was devastated,” Dianne recalls.
Then, at 18, he experienced the most frightening moment of his life when he suddenly coughed up a large amount of blood.
“The drive to the hospital was terrifying,” he says.
“It forced me to confront how fragile life really is.”
Years later, aged 26, a late-night viewing of Chris Hemsworth’s documentary series Limitless prompted Bradley to reflect on mortality once more.
“It got me thinking about all the important decisions people make for us after we’re gone, including the eulogy that’s read at our funeral,” he recalls.
At the time, Bradley was hosting his own podcast and decided to turn the idea into an episode.
He invited two close friends, Tye and Joey, to write and read their own eulogies.
When Bradley finished reading his, Tye had a simple response.
“Yours was too real,” he told him.
Bradley later shared a clip online, expecting little attention.
Instead, it attracted more than 700,000 views.
“I cried uncontrollably through part of it,” he says.
Messages poured in from people grieving loved ones, battling illness, or simply reassessing their lives.
“I think it struck a chord because it reminded people that life is fragile,” Bradley says.
Today, advances in medicine have transformed Bradley’s outlook.
A breakthrough drug called Trikafta has dramatically improved his health, while ongoing treatment helps him manage other complications of cystic fibrosis.
Now 30, Bradley is a motivational speaker, marathon runner, podcast host, and ambassador for the cystic fibrosis community.
He is happily married to his wife, Sophie, and recently added author to his list of achievements with the publication of his book, I Wrote My Own Eulogy.
“If people take one thing from my story, I hope it’s hope,” he says.
For Dianne, watching her son thrive is something she never takes for granted.
“Everything about him makes me proud,” she says.
“He’s kind, loving, loyal, and hardworking. He’s overcome so much and grown into the most beautiful young man. Watching him defy every expectation has been one of my greatest blessings.”
