Valley fever patient shares his story

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - You may not realize it, but there's something lurking in our air that can make you sick. It's called Valley Fever and you may have heard of it, or had it before. One man is in very bad shape because of it.

"I just see this man deteriorating, and it's hurting. It hurts because we have a lot of plans, a lot of life left, and I just wish that we had known about this sooner, sooner," said Shelia Hunt.

Hunt is talking about Valley Fever, something that just a few days ago she and her partner Terry Mahoney hadn't even heard of. But these days it's all they ever think about.

"Got up to get ready for work one morning, I just started coughing and hacking, I said that's it, I gotta go," said Terry Mahoney.

Two months ago Mahoney noticed he was sluggish, lost his appetite, and had a terrible cough. After being misdiagnosed a few times, his condition took a turn and finally he learned he had the airborne fungal disease.

"The public's gotta be made more aware of it, if the research isn't there why, it could turn epidemic," said Mahoney.

Making things even more complicated, Terry is a transplant recipient and has a failing kidney. That's why the couple says they want to spread the word that even though most healthy immune systems can deal with Valley Fever, Mahoney's cannot.

"He misses the dogs, he misses just being out there, just doing his thing ya know. We didn't expect this, this isn't what we came to Arizona for, we came to Arizona because we liked it here," said Hunt.

Even though Terry's future is uncertain there is something that isn't, Shelia will always be by his side no matter what.