Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I was born with cystic fibrosis ...but I’ll hammer it with fitness!
Thor lookalike Ben defies odds to fight killer disease
ASIDE from his uncanny resemblance to a fictional superhero, Ben Mudge looks like any other personal trainer.
But behind the bulging biceps and finely-toned physique, Ben is living with cystic fibrosis – a genetic condition he was born with and for which there is currently no cure.
Yet despite being told at 18 his lung function would never operate beyond 66% capacity, the Belfast man was determined to prove doctors wrong.
The 27-year-old set out on a mission to not let his condition dictate his lifestyle.
Looking back on the turning point when he was 18, Ben said: “I was in hospital for about two to three weeks and with CF everything is based on lung function.
“I went from having 100% capacity to, at its lowest, 66%.
“That was absolutely terrifying because I was so active and never had any issues with breathing.
“The moment I knew health and fitness would be the way forward for me was when I asked the doctors if my lung functions were going to stay at that percentage and they said, ‘Probably’, and I knew they were wrong.
“I just thought, there’s no way that’s true, and whilst they’ve got years of training and experience and not taking that away from them, I just knew my own body. I thought if I feel bad now my lung functions can only get better and if I feel better my lung functions will go up anyway.
“People can get fitter, I thought so can I, so I think that was my main way of treating it, I thought I’m no different to anyone else.”
That determination helped Ben not only increase his lung capacity but also help him him discover the career he was destined for.
He said: “It took me a long time, I used to work in a little corner shop when I was 18 so I used to run from my house to there and I remember thinking that was my goal to be able to run down.
“The first few times I cycled down, then I started to jog as much as I could then walk the rest and then eventually I just built it up until I could run down there without it fazing me at all.
“That was nearly 10 years ago. My lung functions are currently sitting at 96%. It is a degenerative disease so it should get worse as I get older but I’m still holding on to those high 90s.”
Since then Ben has gone on to make a successful career for himself in the fitness industry with his own online personal training programme helping him amass more than 60,000 followers on soial media. It is also hard to miss the fact Ben also bares a striking resemblance to a certain fictional Marvel superhero.
He said: “People always said I looked like Chris Hemsworth so I thought that was kind of cool as Thor is one of my favourite characters. So about a year and a half ago I thought I’m going to grow my hair and see what it’s like and it just worked.
“So I’ve been [a Thor looklike] too long now to just give up, but I do it as a hobby.” Not only is Ben inspiring people to look after their bodies, he’s also giving hope to a new generation of sufferers of the disease.
He said: “This has definitely been the right path for me and now I can inspire kids and adults all over the world who have CF.
“It’s just incredible some of the messages I get from people “I never thought it would have this effect on people.”
People can get fitter and I thought, ‘So can I’. My lung capacity now sits at 96% BEN MUDGE ON BATTLING CYSTIC FIBROSIS LUNG FUNCTION