F or Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, 2018 was a year of living with disaster, both national and personal.

Sutopo, the spokesperson for Indonesia’s disaster management agency, has become a household name as a source of reliable information during a deadly string of earthquakes, floods, landslides and, just last month, a tsunami that killed more than 400 people.

At the same time, he has been dealing with his own calamity. A lifelong nonsmoker, he learnt in 2018, at the age of 48, that he had stage 4 lung cancer. Doctors gave him one to three years to live.

“When I heard the diagnosis in January, I was shocked,” he says during an interview at his office in Jakarta, the capital. “After that, I accepted that it was my fate, just like people who were affected by earthquakes and the tsunami.”

Now 49, he has used the time left to him to plunge into his work, winning the admiration of his compatriots and gaining a large following on social media.

His Twitter feed is filled with dramatic videos of landslides, rushing floodwaters and erupting volcanoes, interspersed with photos of him undergoing chemotherapy at a Jakarta hospital.

After a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the resort island of Lombok in August, killing more than 550 people, he fielded calls from reporters while receiving treatment.

Despite the constant ache in his bones, where the cancer has spread, he has remained a commanding presence at news conferences beamed live across the country.

Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 Show all 23 1 /23 Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 Photojournalist Paddy Dowling traveled with UK based charity Muslim Aid to the disaster areas of North Sulawesi to witness the scale of Indonesia’s earthquake & tsunami. In this photo a man sifts through the rubble of his home close to Darul Muttaqien Mosque in Palu. When the earthquake struck he was not there he was out with his family. “Thank god we are all fine” Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 Lewi Kai 44 sat and waited for news of his wife next to the building that collapsed on her as a result of the earthquake in North Sulaawesi. Rescue workers rotating in shifts around the clock to recover her body Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 Darul Muttaqien Mosque was the heart of the community for many here in Palu. Many victims were inside their homes or at the mosque when the quake struck at around 1800hrs. Magareb prayer for many muslims here was their final prayer Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 A young boy is dragged from the earth where JL Kenanga street once existed and placed in an orange body bag to be carried to a mass grave in Palu Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 Many vehicles in Palu due to the quake were lifted from their original location. The owner of this pickup pointing to over 50 feet from where it was last parked Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 Residents of an IDP camp in Donggala queue for food distribution in an old disused open air theatre. Local NGOs are doing fantastic work here in Indonesia with this crisis however the road to help the victims of this disaster is a long one. Muslim Aid is the only British NGO delivering aid out in Palu through local partners Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 SARS workers drill through reinforced concrete in a collapsed building in Palu. The build is unstable so they must work fast to recover the last body in the floor below Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 Military soldiers work tirelessly in the searing heat to recover and bury the dead here in Palu. A familiar silhouette, In pairs they carry members of the community to their final resting place Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 Two young men in Palu sift through the rubble in front of their home. They salvage as much wood as they could tying it into bundles to store as firewood for fuel to use cooking in the kitchen Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 The rows of body bags zipped up and lined up here in Palu is rising daily. JL Kenanga street in Palu is where locals say hundreds of bodies may still be buried under the rubble Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 A body recovered from Perumnas Baloroa in Palu lay on the road outside the morgue in the blistering heat of the day. The smell of death is everywhere here in Palu Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 Military soldiers take refreshment and shade under a tree as they watch the digger recover the dead of Paul and Donggala Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 Bubba, 65, has waited patiently for eight days for news of his missing son feared buried below the rubble Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 SARS teams exit a building in Palu metres from the destroyed of Ramayana shopping Mall. They are searching for a body of a woman still unaccounted for. Her husband waits by for news nearby Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 An young Indonesian soldier is drafted up from Makassar in South Sulawesi to help during this national disaster. He had formally been posted to Sudan before arriving in Palu. He joins his team searching for the dead and taking them to the mass graves nearby Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 Excavators work tirelessly digging through the earth to recover the bodies of this tragedy grinding through rock, mud and metal. Many locals lucky enough to survive watch heavy hearts as each corpse is placed into a body bag Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 Residents of the district of Petobo in Palu wait behind a military cordon as the excavations continue in the distance. They wait in hope for news of the missing Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 Residents return to sift through the rubble to salvage what they can of their belongings and the fabric of their homes such as corrugated tin and timber which can be used to build a temporary shelter elsewhere Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 35 bodies excavated in a single afternoon alone in Palu in the shadows of Darul Muttaqien Mosque Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 The level of destruction in Palu caused by the earthquake on 28th September resembled a scene from an apocalyptic film Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 Public donations of food, bottled water and clothing arrives at Siding Hajj Home IDP Camp in Makassar. Indonesia’s newest IDP camp which will home around10,000 people now homeless Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 Military soldiers work tirelessly in the searing heat to recover and bury the dead here in Palu. A familiar silhouette, In pairs they carry members of the community to their final resting place Paddy Dowling Victims of Indonesia's Tsunami in 2018 Residents from the district of Petobo in Palu, saw houses, trees and cars disappear under the ground due to liquefaction. There is a 3km area for the diggers to excavate. To see more of Paddy's work please visit his website www.paddydowling.co.uk Paddy Dowling

“When there is a disaster and I have to do a press conference, my adrenaline increases and I even forget I am sick,” he says. “As soon as I get home, I feel the pain.”

A vast archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, Indonesia is especially vulnerable to volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis because it sits astride the Ring of Fire, an active seismic area on the margins of the Pacific Ocean.

This has been the country’s deadliest year for natural disasters in more than a decade, Sutopo says. More than 4,600 people died, a figure that does not include the 189 passengers and crew members killed in the crash of a Lion Air plane in the Java Sea on 29 October.

The worst of the catastrophes was the 7.5 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that struck the island of Sulawesi in September, killing more than 2,100.

“This has been the year of disasters,” Sutopo says.

More than 2,000 were killed in Sulawesi in September (Paddy Dowling)

When the second tsunami of the year struck on the evening of 22 December in the Sunda Strait, Sutopo was in the city of Yogyakarta, having a holiday with his family and seeking alternative treatment for his cancer.

He quickly began sending updates to the news media, keeping at it until 1am. He was back to work before 6am, apologising for typos in his messages, saying that the fingers of his left hand were numb from his treatment.

Later, he spoke bluntly about the lack of a tsunami alert, saying, “The disaster early warning system in Indonesia is still far from satisfactory.”

Across Indonesia, people rely on Sutopo when a disaster strikes.

“He explains things in simple language for average people,” says Caroline Maringka, a shop manager in Jakarta. “I also feel he is very committed and puts the public’s interest on top. Even though he is suffering from a terminal illness, he still does his job.”

Despite his condition, Sutopo is upbeat and vigorous during a two-hour interview.

Sutopo is fiercely committed to his work despite his illness (Reuters)

He is a father of two children, ages 12 and 19, and is taking morphine for pain, including an aching spine. Lying down is so painful that he rarely sleeps more than three hours a night.

He posts often about his condition on Twitter, sharing X-rays of his lung and before-and-after photos of the top of his bald head, showing that some hair, oddly, has grown back during chemotherapy.

Pak Topo, as he is affectionately known, grew up in the Central Java town of Boyolali, about 330 miles east of Jakarta and close to Mount Merapi, one of Indonesia’s many active volcanoes. He studied geography at university and later earned a doctorate in natural resources and environmental management.

For 16 years, he worked for government agencies as a researcher, mainly on water issues. After a dam broke near Jakarta in 2009, killing more than 100 people, he analysed photos of the dam and went public with his finding that cracks in the structure had caused it to fail.

“It was me against the ministry of public works,” he says. “At that time, I received a lot of threats to keep quiet.”

Even so, he was asked to take a leading role in analysing and explaining subsequent disasters.

Indonesia is especially vulnerable to disasters (Paddy Dowling)

He turned down his current post three times, he says, because he did not want a job in which he thought his role would be to promote his boss.

He was finally left with no choice in 2010, when he was directed one day to attend a ceremony dressed in a suit. Only after he arrived did he discover he was being sworn in as the disaster agency’s spokesperson.

He says he never received training for the job.

“I don’t have a background in communications,” he says. “I just do it. And I just have to have the guts to criticise the government, not using bureaucratic language but in my own style.”

Rumours often spread quickly during big disasters, and Sutopo sees part of his job as combating online hoaxes and false reports. “What I am giving out is the real thing, not fake news like Donald Trump,” he says.

Like many Indonesians, he prefers Trump’s presidential predecessor, Barack Obama, who lived in Indonesia as a child and has visited several times since winning the presidency in 2008.

Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave Show all 25 1 /25 Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave Debris littered a property badly damaged by a tsunami in Carita, Indonesia. The tsunami occurred after the eruption of a volcano around Indonesia's Sunda Strait during a busy holiday weekend, sending water crashing ashore and sweeping away hotels, hundreds of houses and people attending a beach concert AP Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave Damaged cars are seen among collapsed houses after a tsunami hit Banten, Indonesia, December 23, 2018 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Dian Triyuli Handoko/ via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. INDONESIA OUT. ANTARA FOTO Reuters Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave An aerial photo shows damaged buildings in Carita AFP/Getty Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave Relatives mourn at a health facility where the bodies of tsunami victims are collected EPA Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave A resident walks past a collapsed guesthouse after a tsunami hit the area at Carita beach in Pandeglang, Banten province, Indonesia, December 23, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. STRINGER Reuters Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave epa07246244 Indonesian officers carry an injured person into an ambulance after a tsunami hit the Sunda Strait in Banten, Indonesia 23 December 2018. According to the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB), at least 43 people dead and 584 others have been injured after a tsunami hit the coastal regions of the Sunda Strait. EPA/TUBAGUS TUBAGUS EPA Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave An aerial photo shows damaged buildings in Carita on December 23, 2018, after the area was hit by a tsunami on December 22 following an eruption of the Anak Krakatoa volcano. - A volcano-triggered tsunami has left at least 168 people dead and hundreds more injured after slamming without warning into beaches around Indonesia's Sunda Strait, officials said on December 23, 2018 voicing fears that the toll was set to rise. (Photo by Azwar Ipank / AFP)AZWAR IPANK/AFP/Getty Images AZWAR IPANK AFP/Getty Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave epa07246251 A man walks among debris, past a damaged car, after a tsunami hit the Sunda Strait in Pandeglang, Banten, Indonesia, 23 December 2018. According to the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB), at least 43 people dead and 584 others have been injured after a tsunami hit the coastal regions of the Sunda Strait. EPA/ADI WEDA ADI WEDA EPA Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave A man reacts after identifying his relative among the bodies of tsunami victims in Carita, Indonesia, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2018. The tsunami occurred after the eruption of a volcano around Indonesia's Sunda Strait during a busy holiday weekend, sending water crashing ashore and sweeping away hotels, hundreds of houses and people attending a beach concert. (AP Photo/Fauzy Chaniago) Fauzy Chaniago AP Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave TOPSHOT - An aerial photo shows damaged buildings in Carita on December 23, 2018, after the area was hit by a tsunami on December 22 following an eruption of the Anak Krakatoa volcano. - A volcano-triggered tsunami has left at least 168 people dead and hundreds more injured after slamming without warning into beaches around Indonesia's Sunda Strait, officials said on December 23, 2018 voicing fears that the toll was set to rise. (Photo by Azwar Ipank / AFP)AZWAR IPANK/AFP/Getty Images AZWAR IPANK AFP/Getty Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave epa07246239 Dead bodies collected at a health facility after a tsunami hit Sunda Strait in Pandeglang, Banten, Indonesia, 23 December 2018. According to the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management (BNPB), at least 43 people dead and 584 others have been injured after a tsunami hit the coastal regions of the Sunda Strait. EPA/ADI WEDA ADI WEDA EPA Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave Residents collect debris from their collapsed houses Reuters Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave A local health center officer covers a dead body Reuters Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave This handout from Indonesia's Social Affairs Ministry taken and released on December 23, 2018 shows damaged buildings and vehicles in Carita, after the area was hit by a tsunami on December 22 following an eruption of the Anak Krakatoa volcano. - A tsunami following a volcanic eruption killed 62 people and injured hundreds more as it slammed without warning into tourist beaches and coastal areas around Indonesia's Sunda Strait on the night of December 22, sending panicked holidaymakers and residents fleeing. (Photo by Handout / Indonesia Social Affairs Ministry / AFP) / -----EDITORS NOTE --- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / Indonesia Social Affairs Ministry" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTSHANDOUT/AFP/Getty Images HANDOUT AFP/Getty Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave A man inspects his house which was damaged by a tsunami, in Carita, Indonesia, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2018. The tsunami apparently caused by the eruption of an island volcano killed a number of people around Indonesia's Sunda Strait, sending a wall of water crashing some 65 feet (20 meters) inland and sweeping away hundreds of houses including hotels, the government and witnesses said. (AP Photo/Dian Triyuli Handoko) Dian Triyuli Handoko AP Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave Bodies of victims recovered along Carita beach are placed in body bags on December 23, 2018, after the area was hit by a tsunami on December 22 following an eruption of the Anak Krakatoa volcano. - A tsunami following a volcanic eruption killed 62 people and injured hundreds more as it slammed without warning into tourist beaches and coastal areas around Indonesia's Sunda Strait on the night of December 22, sending panicked holidaymakers and residents fleeing. (Photo by Semi / AFP)SEMI/AFP/Getty Images SEMI AFP/Getty Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave An Indonesian man looks at ruined vehicles EPA Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave epa07246112 A handout photo made available by the Indonesia's national disaster management (BNPB) shows a ruined car that was rolled over after a tsunami hit Sunda Strait, in Anyer, Banten, Indonesia, 23 December 2018. According to BNPB, at least 43 people dead and 584 others have been injured. EPA/BNPB / HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES BNPB / HANDOUT EPA Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave Indonesian men walk among debris EPA Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave Rescue team evacuate the body of a victim EPA Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave A ruined tractor sits in the water EPA Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave Survivors receive treatment at a hospital in Carita AFP/Getty Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave A resident walks past damaged houses AP Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave A soldier examines a local resident who was injured Antara Foto/Reuters Indonesia tsunami:Rescue operation begins after devastating tidal wave Damaged cars are seen among the debris after a tsunami hit the Sunda Strait in Indonesia EPA

In a country where people often rely on faith and superstition to understand the world, Sutopo’s job sometimes entails explaining the science of disasters, such as the fact that quakes and volcanic eruptions are caused by the shifting of tectonic plates that form the Earth’s outer layer.

He also incorporates local wisdom and traditional beliefs into his explanations.

“The cultural approach works better than just science and technology,” he says. “If people think that it is punishment from God, it makes it easier for them to recover.”

His office shelves are lined with dozens of awards. An Indonesian anti-hoax group called Mafindo honoured Sutopo in October for his efforts to combat the spread of false information during disasters. The Straits Times newspaper in Singapore named Sutopo an “Asian of the Year”.

The attention he has received is unusual for a midlevel bureaucrat. He has become so prominent that the president, Joko Widodo, whom Sutopo calls his idol, met him in October.

Another dream came true in November when Sutopo met his favourite celebrity, a pop singer, Raisa Andriana.

He had been trying to get her attention by including her Twitter handle in some of his disaster posts. He said he hoped she would retweet the messages to her 8.4 million followers.

When she didn’t respond, some of his followers began using the Twitter hashtag #RaisaMeetSutopo, which went viral for a few days in October.

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They finally met last month in Jakarta, where she sang a song to him. He called it one of the highlights of his life.

Who is next on his wish list to meet?

“Not Donald Trump,” he says. “Obama.”