Singer Yoo Yeol looked back on his harrowing battle with pulmonary fibrosis.
On the May 13th episode of tvN’s ‘You Quiz on the Block’, singer Yoo Yeol appeared as a guest, returning in healthy spirits after fighting idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis for seven years.
Yoo Yeol suffered from a rare condition called “idiopathic pleural parenchymal elastic fibrosis” for seven years. He shared, “Even within pulmonary fibrosis, the disease I have is a rare one that affects only about 1% of patients. My doctor estimated my survival chance to be around 4 to 7 years.”
He was first diagnosed with lung inflammation during a health check-up in 2017.
Yoo Yeol recalled, “I was told it was suspected and needed monitoring, and that I should breathe fresh air while taking medication to slow it down, so I didn’t think much of it.” He continued, “Then I caught acute pneumonia, and my fever soared to 40 degrees Celsius and wouldn’t drop. My heart rate became so high that the hospital suspected lung cancer and performed a biopsy, which led to the diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis.”
He explained, “Breathing became increasingly difficult, and because I spent so much energy just breathing, I lost weight.” He added that he spent his hardest six months hospitalized in May 2024 due to the flu and a high fever.
Recalling those days, he said, “I couldn’t even get out of bed, and within ten days of hospitalization, I had to use a bedpan for my basic needs.” He revealed, “My weight dropped to 41kg, and my heart rate spiked to 190, which is like the level of someone running a marathon.”
He confessed, “It was a truly dangerous situation, and the doctor told me I should prepare myself mentally.” He also discussed whether to pursue life-sustaining treatment with his wife.
The only solution was a lung transplant. Yoo Yeol recalled, “I didn’t realize so many people were waiting for organ transplants. Fortunately, my turn came in less than three months.”
However, the first donated lung was canceled due to poor condition. “Miraculously, a second donor appeared, but that was also canceled after the National Forensic Service decided on an autopsy. Since breathing was so difficult, I prayed for them to just take me,” he shared.
He brought tears to viewers’ eyes by revealing, “I had two cardiac arrests in the early morning hours. I wrote a will, asking that my final wishes be delivered if anything happened.”
Yoo Yeol shared his feelings upon recovery: “A donor appeared, and coincidentally, my health was at its best around that time. Thankfully, the surgery went well, and I woke up in a day and a half. When I was discharged, the professor returned my will to me. After waking up from the transplant, everything felt so new, and I placed my hand on my chest and said thank you.”
He added, “Someone’s lung is now connected to my body. I mourned for that person.” He shared that the father who donated his daughter’s organs said, “I hope the person who received my daughter’s organs stays healthy.” Yoo Yeol concluded, “I will live a life that remembers those kinds of hearts.”
