Sob stories may anger Nathan Charles but the rookie Wallabies hooker admits he couldn’t help but break down in tears when he finally revealed his own emotional tale.

Talking about living with cystic fibrosis doesn’t bother Charles these days.

Which is just as well – he knows it will come up a lot now that he is poised to make his Wallabies debut in Saturday night’s second Test against France in Melbourne.

But not so long ago, his life-long condition looked set to be a life-long secret.

Charles admits he kept his genetic disease under wraps when he lobbed as an ACT Brumbies academy player in 2009.

He feared he would be treated differently.

He was scared about what teammates might think.

And worst of all, he didn’t want to be known as “that guy” who relied on a sob story to succeed.

Time passed, bonds were created – and confidence finally grew in Charles.

Still, nothing could quite prepare him for the day he bit the bullet and decided to reveal the truth to his now close teammates and coach Andy Friend in 2009.

“I just spoke to the coach and said I wanted to talk to the boys before it became public knowledge,” Charles told AAP.

“We were such a tight group so I ended up standing in front of the team and got a bit weak at the knees and started breaking down in tears.

“I was with a bunch of boys who I didn’t want to think anything different of me.

“I wasn’t embarrassed but I guess I was a bit scared of their perception and how they might treat me differently.

“I think it was a matter of time (before it got out) but I wanted to achieve something first before I announced it publicly.

“I didn’t want to be seen as a sympathy case. I wanted to be judged on my rugby ability.”

Charles again kept quiet when he arrived at the Western Force in 2010, determined to be judged on ability not a perceived disability.

“I didn’t want to be a sympathy case because that is not what I am about at all,” he said.

“The common example I go back to is the TV show – which I don’t watch – The Voice because everyone has a sob story and that just makes my blood boil.

“I want to get somewhere and achieve something based on my ability as a rugby player.

“I want to look back and know I did it on my own accord. I don’t want to be a sob story.”

Keeping his condition secret is now no longer an option for Charles, and that’s not a problem.

“In the past it was something I just disregarded. It was something I managed with my family and only they knew about it,” he said.

“But now it is getting much easier talking about it publicly.

“And my profile and work done in the community thankfully is creating a wider awareness.”

So how inspirational is Charles?

He is believed to be the only athlete in the world with the condition to be playing a contact sport professionally.

He needs to take up to 28 pills and vitamins a day.

He is 25. Only 50 per cent of sufferers live to their late 30s.

Still, Charles is no mood for sob stories.

“I am ecstatic I am in a position to be able to give sufferers hope,” he said.

“Cystic fibrosis is the most common genetic condition in Caucasians worldwide.

“It creates a sticky mucous on the airways of the lungs which can cause blockages, and exercise moves that around and gets rid of it.

“So for me exercise is the best medication.

“Each case is very different and it is not realistic that everyone can do what I am doing but hopefully it does inspire them.

“And I don’t see the point of getting myself down. Life is too short.

“I would rather be happy than have people feel sorry for me.”