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Reaching Beyond The Diagnosis

54 Years Late

“54 YEARS LATE” is a short film that tells the gut-wrenching true-life story of Terry Gene Wright, a 62-year-old African American man who was not diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis (CF) until the age of 54 despite being seen by an array of healthcare practitioners, enduring countless hospitalizations and surgeries, and having all the classic symptoms of CF – a progressive and genetic disease that’s often perceived to affect only the Caucasian population. Written and directed by Michele Wright, Ph.D., and produced by Butterbean Productions, this movie emotionally depicts Terry’s roughly 5 ½-decade painful and surreal journey from childhood to adulthood to finally being diagnosed with CF “54 YEARS LATE”!

“54 YEARS LATE: The Terry Wright Story“

54 YEARS LATE won the two top awards at the first-ever 2021 Cystic Fibrosis Awareness Film Festival sponsored by The Bonnell Foundation: Living with cystic fibrosis in partnership with the I See You Awards:

Additionally, 54 YEARS LATE has also now officially been accepted and a winner in numerous other Film Festivals – including:

Our first CF Film Festival was held in May of 2021. We were delighted to get 70 entries. One of those entries, “54 Years Late” changed the way we think about cystic fibrosis and diagnosis. The film opens the eyes of so many, how could Wright have been misdiagnosed for so long? The late diagnosis was simply based on his race. We’re all well aware of racism in this Country, but medical prejudice isn’t talked about as much.

The CF Film Festival allowed Michele and Terry Wrights film to spread the word about medical prejudice while telling his story. We are told that there are 30,000 people in this Country who are diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, but as Michele has told The Bonnell Foundation, that number is probably higher because of all the African Americans who have not been diagnosed with the disease (this is also true of the middle east). The Bonnell Foundation is grateful to the Wrights for raising awareness about diagnosis. We’re so glad they won first place for a feature film in our debut year. We look forward to see what they do next year!

Laura Bonnell
Festival Co-Director, CF Awareness Film Festival
President, The Bonnell Foundation: Living with cystic fibrosis

For more information, visit the official 54 Years Late website.

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