'You Quiz on the Block' singer Yu Yeol said he nearly overcame pulmonary fibrosis and became grateful to those around him, including his son.
On the 13th episode of tvN's 'You Quiz on the Block' (hereafter 'You Quiz'), Yu Yeol appeared after nearly recovering his health following a seven-year battle with illness. As a singer who defined an era and as a broadcaster who continuously delivered a deeply resonant voice to viewers, he returned with "Documentary 3 Days." Yu Yeol said, "The Documentary 3 Days producer contacted me again. After finishing the narration recording, I cried."
The reason he said this was because he had been diagnosed with a rare disease and fought it. Yu Yeol, who suffered from idiopathic pleuroparenchymal elastic fibrosis, said, "They said it's a rare disease that occurs in about 1%. They said the lungs get covered with inflammation, heal, and then harden, making breathing difficult. Some doctors said four years of survival, some said about seven years."
In 2017 they suspected lung inflammation, and later lung cancer was suspected and a biopsy was done, but what was found was pulmonary fibrosis. There was nothing to do but get fresh air and take drugs that slow the progression.
Yu Yeol said, "Breathing got harder and harder, and because breathing took a lot of energy I lost weight," and "In 2023 I was invited to a small church and sang praise, and it appeared on YouTube so many people found out." At that time he lost down to 47–48 kg, and in '24 he was confined to a hospital room for six months with the flu and high fever. His weight also dropped to 41 kg. Growing thinner by the day, he eventually received a suggestion for life-sustaining treatment.
Yu Jae-seok looked at him with concern and said, "At the time your son's age was 12, right?" Yu Yeol, knowing now the unseen tears of his late-born son and wife, swallowed his tears and said, "My wife went through so much. My son once prayed in the school bathroom that his father would not die," and wiped his eyes.
At that point his only treatment option was a long-term transplant, namely a lung transplant. By a stroke of luck he was scheduled to receive a transplant in three months, but the transplant was canceled because the donor lung's condition worsened. Waiting again for a second transplant, he barely held on to his health. As the second operation time was set, Yu Yeol saw his mother off. Collapsing on the day of the funeral, he heard the despairing news that the owner of the lung he was to receive for the second transplant had been decided for an autopsy by the National Forensic Service. Until then he had had will and determination to live, but he eventually let go of himself.
Then cardiac arrest came. Yu Yeol suddenly remembered that he had not said many things to his son. In that dawn he wrote by hand, "I hope such a thing never happens, but if it does, please tell them that everything was a blessing," and "My beloved son Jeong-yun. You keep getting more and more wonderful. Thank you! We had many promises but I couldn't keep them, I'm sorry. Grow well. I'll always watch over you and pray. Let's meet again happily someday. Goodbye," as a written farewell.
Afterward, miraculously receiving a lung transplant, he recovered about 90% of his health. Yu Yeol said, "It was the words of the father who donated his daughter's organs after she suddenly passed away. He said he hoped the person who received our daughter's organs would be healthy. I was so grateful and cried. I wanted to live a life that remembers even those words," and wiped his tears, adding, "Every morning my son scolds me. I keep looking at him. He tells me to eat, but I'm fine just looking at him," explaining that he spends every moment of life meaningfully.
[Photo channel] tvN channel 'You Quiz on the Block' broadcast screen capture
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