Five Feet Apart?

"Six Feet, that’s how close we’re ever allowed to be.

And after all CF has stolen from me, from us, I don’t mind stealing a little something back. One foot. One freaking foot of space, distance, length — whatever you want to call it, I don’t mind stealing that back.” — Stella, Five Feet Apart

Cover Image

Five Feet Apart.

Gosh! such a superb, romantic, heart-rending drama about doomed young love but beyond the tender moments and tragic scenes, this story opens a window into

something real — a rare genetic disease that dictates how close two people can get.

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) isn’t just the backdrop of the movie; it’s the invisible wall between

life, love, touch, and survival. For many CFers living with it, that “Five Feet Apart” isn’t just a movie rule, it’s a daily reality shaped by science and disease.

Standing Five Feet Apart: 📍 Pinterest

The Science Behind the Distance

Cystic Fibrosis is one of those diseases that rewrites the rules of life for those born

with it.

Yes, it is a genetic disorder that affects the lungs, digestive system, and other organs

caused by mutations in the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator

(CFTR) gene.

This mutation leads to the production of thick, sticky mucus in the

airways and digestive tract instead of the thin, slippery kind that normally protects our organs.

This bad mucus clogs the lungs, causing breathing problems and frequent infections. It also blocks the pancreas, making it hard to digest food properly. Quite a dilemma.

Now, here’s where the distance comes in.

CF isn’t contagious, in fact, for a healthy person, being around someone with CF isn’t dangerous but people with CF are at high risk of passing dangerous bacteria to each other. Their lungs are fragile ecosystems, and even a common germ that wouldn’t bother a healthy person could cause a severe, possibly fatal infection in someone with CF.

In the movie, Stella and Will, the two main characters, both have CF. Even worse, Will

has Burkholderia cepacia, a highly resistant, high-spread-risk type of bacteria that

can cause serious lung infections in people with cystic fibrosis.

They’re not separated because of love’s tragedy, but because of cross-infection risk.

Bacteria like Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Burkholderia cepacia can spread through cough droplets, sneezes, or shared air in close proximity. If one patient’s bacteria colonizes another’s lungs, it can lead to antibiotic resistant infections and even death.

This is where the rule Six Feet Apart came into play, stemming from research in the

late 1990s and early 2000s showing that infectious bacteria could be transmitted

between patients through coughs and sneezes. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation then developed new standards of care recommending that CF patients maintain a minimum distance of six feet from one another to minimize cross-infection risk.

That’s why six feet apart isn’t arbitrary, it’s the space necessary for survival.

Will & Stella: 📍 Pinterest

Fact vs Fiction: What Five Feet Apart Got Right and Didn’t

Now the movie came out in 2019, and when it hit the screens, it brought Cystic Fibrosis

into mainstream conversation making viewers curious about the disease, but how real was it?

One thing the film got impressively right was the science of CF itself. It correctly

showed CF as a genetic disease which leads to the buildup of thick, sticky mucus in the lungs and digestive tract. These small details, the coughs, the breathing treatments, the chest physiotherapy wasn’t just for drama. Stella doing her breathing treatments, her Afflovest, strictly keeping to her daily regimen was deeply accurate as it reflected what real CF patients go through daily to keep their lungs clear and infections at bay.

It also captured the six-foot rule with emotional accuracy. That rule wasn’t made up for the movie, it comes from infection-control guidelines by the Cystic Fibrosis

Foundation, after studies in the late 1990s showed how bacteria could spread through

air and droplets between patients.

The film turned that harsh medical truth into a symbol of love and defiance for Will and Stella , the stolen “one foot” became their way of reclaiming control in a life full of rules.

And perhaps most importantly, the movie nailed the emotional reality, the solitude,

loneliness, the fear, the routine hospital life, and the fragile hope that defines many CF

journeys. People in the CF community have said that even if the movie wasn’t perfect, it

made them feel seen.

Will's Birthday Dinner: 📍 Pinterest

Still, not everything in Five Feet Apart holds up medically. CF experts pointed out that

the film over-romanticized hospital life and patient autonomy leading to poor infection

control. While it made for a powerful love story, real patients would never be allowed

to meet or date in close proximity even with masks on.

In reality, teens with CF aren’t

allowed the kind of freedom Stella and Will had especially with Will carrying

Burkholderia cepacia, a highly contagious and dangerous bacterium. The risks of being within five feet of each other in those circumstances are not just frowned upon by

experts; they’re considered life-threatening and modern hospitals would have Will in

solitary, not sharing a space with others.

The film also tended to exaggerate the severity of CF in a universal sense. While

many patients experience life-threatening complications, not every person with CF lives in constant crisis mode. Modern treatment options, including airway clearance techniques, enzyme supplements, and medications like CFTR modulators such as Trikafta, have significantly improved both life expectancy and quality of life for CFers.

By focusing mainly on terminal decline, the movie missed the growing hope and

resilience in the CF community today.

On the flip side, Five Feet Apart also left out some of the less cinematic but very

real complications of CF.

Beyond lung infections, patients often battle digestive problems, liver disease, diabetes, infertility, and other mental health struggles linked to long-term illness. These daily realities shape CF just as much as coughing fits or oxygen tubes, but they rarely made it onscreen. Including them could have shown how CF affects the whole body, not just the lungs or love life.

Critics from within the CF community also felt that the movie, while well-intentioned,

romanticized suffering a bit too much, turning what is a lifelong medical challenge into a tragic love trope. Yet many still expressed gratitude that the film made people care about CF at all. As one CF advocate put it, “If even one person leaves the theater wanting to learn more about cystic fibrosis, that’s a win.”

I feel the exact same way.

In the end, Five Feet Apart isn’t perfect medicine, but it is perfect awareness as it

gave Cystic Fibrosis a voice that millions finally heard.

Stella: 📍Pinterest

Then vs Now: Advances in CF Care

When Five Feet Apart was released in 2019, life with cystic fibrosis looked far

grimmer than it does today. Back then, treatment focused mostly on managing

symptoms with constant airway clearance, antibiotics, and enzymes to help digest food but since then, science has taken such a remarkable leap.

The biggest breakthrough came with CFTR modulator therapies like Trikafta, which

directly targets the faulty gene causing CF rather than just treating its effects.

For many patients, this means easier breathing, fewer hospital visits, and a new sense of normalcy once thought impossible.

Alongside better treatments, there’s also been a stronger emphasis on mental health

and community support. The CF Foundation now prioritizes holistic care — not just physical health but emotional well-being, education, and connection through safe online spaces.

Learning this made me really happy.

📍Pinterest

Reflections: Closer Than We Think

Five Feet Apart may have started as a love story, but it left behind something much

deeper, a mirror for how we see illness, isolation, and the human need for closeness. It reminds us that sometimes, science sets the boundaries, but empathy helps us live within them.

For people living with cystic fibrosis, every breath is an act of strength. Their days are

filled with routines that most of us take for granted, I mean breathing treatments,

hospital visits, the loneliness, mental strain and cautious distances from those they care about most.

Yet behind all that medical precision are people who laugh, dream, fall in love, and hope for the same ordinary joys as anyone else.

As a society, our role is to do more than sympathize. We have to stay curious, to

support rare disease research, and to treat invisible battles with visible compassion.

Awareness shouldn’t end when the credits roll, it should begin there.

The distance between Stella and Will may have been six feet, but between awareness

and action, it doesn’t have to be that far.

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