Western Force, RugbyWA throw full support behind former Wallaby Nathan Charles after MND diagnosis

Western Force and RugbyWA have thrown their support behind former Wallaby Nathan Charles after the former Test hooker was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease.

Charles, who overcame cystic fibrosis to play more than 80 games for the Force and made his national team debut against the All Blacks in a Bledisloe Cup, is facing a new health battle after he made his diagnosis public.

The former front-rower was a popular figure across his time with the Force and following his retirement, he served as Rugby WA’s chief executive before moving back to the eastern states in 2023.

In a combined statement, the two WA organisations where Charles most keenly made their mark offered their full support to him.

“Western Force and RugbyWA offer their full support and wrap their collective arms around former player Nathan Charles following his devastating diagnosis with Motor Neurone Disease,” the statement read.

“Nathan made a considerable contribution to WA rugby, playing 83 Super Rugby games for the Force between 2010 and 2016 and serving as RugbyWA CEO from 2021 to 2023. Now it’s the WA rugby community’s turn to stand beside him with our full support.

“The Force and RugbyWA encourage anyone willing to support Nathan to donate via the GoFundMe page set up to help him manage life with MND.”

Charles overcame the odds to even carve out a career in sport after being diagnosed with cystic fibrosis a few months into his life, and is believed to be the only person in the world living with cystic fibrosis to ever play a contact sport professionally.

Reaching the heady heights of international rugby was just as an incredible achievement and in a video on social media, the Wallabies also offered the four-cap former player their full support.

“On behalf of the Wallabies and Rugby Australia, we’re all with you in this tough time. We know you have a tough time ahead, but we’re with you every step of the way,” Wallabies captain Harry Wilson.

In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald, Charles said he had already been greatly impacted by it following his diagnosis less than a month ago, but was determined to continue to defy the odds and tackle the challenge head-on.

“My initial mindset was, ‘I’m now doing things for the last time’. Instead, I really want to flip the script and say, ‘I want to start doing things for the first time,’” he said.

“You’re going to have your challenging days, and understanding that allows you to reset and say, ‘Righto mate, today is today, what are you going to with it?’”

Speaking to The West Australian in 2012, Charles opened up about how he had managed growing up and living with cystic fibrosis, which affects a number of organs in the body especially the lungs and pancreas.

“I’m one of the fortunate ones, fortunate to have a mild category. A lot of kids don’t survive,” he said at the time.

“I want to be known as Nathan Charles the rugby player that has CF, not the guy who has CF that plays rugby.”

To donate to Charles’ GoFundMe, click here.