Gerry Farquharson has lived a life dedicated to serving others. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War and later served as a firefighter in Massachusetts.
But for all the danger that service brought, it wasn’t until he retired in Naples that he faced something that nearly killed him.
“I just couldn't breathe,” Farquharson recalled. “I had a hard time catching my breath."
It was 2022. Gerry caught something fierce . After a few days, he was so sick he couldn’t move.
His wife took him to NCH off Immokalee Road in Naples, and he went straight to the ICU.
He was on life support for seven days.
“I don't remember anything from then on. Until I ended up waking up,” he explained. “I was talking with my wife, and I said, 'What happened?' She goes, 'You had Legionella.' I couldn't believe it. I said 'Legionella?'"
It's a bacteria that causes a serious type of pneumonia called Legionnaires’ disease .
It exists naturally in freshwater but becomes a concern when it gets into building water systems and grows.
“Our water that's in our pipes, in our pools, and areas such as that are at a warmer temperature. And that's the optimal growth for this bacteria – it likes to be in warm water,” Lee Health’s Dr. Mary Beth Saunders explained. “It's spread when those tiny bacteria particles are aerosolized into the air – and then we inhale them."
Saunders said that growth in warm water means Florida can be a prime place for the bacteria to spread.
While reported cases of Legionnaires’ disease in Lee County are low relative to some other illnesses, there has been a steady rise in cases over the past several years.
This year, there are already 53 cases with four months still left to go.
“Generally, we're going to see it in areas where water may be stagnant,” Saunders explained. “People who stay here during the wintertime, they leave their homes, they come back in. All the water that's in their pipes and their homes has sat stagnant for that whole period of time.”
Saunders said it’s hard to say for sure why there’s been a spike in cases. It could be due to a growing population and better reporting of the disease, she explained, but data shows that the rate of cases is also rising in Lee County.
There is no vaccine for Legionnaires’ disease, though there are treatments for it. Symptoms include cough, fever, confusion, among others. It is not spread from person-to-person.
Most healthy people exposed to Legionella don’t get sick. People at increased risk are those 50 or older or those with certain health conditions.
“It's serious. A lot of people die from it,” Farquharson said. “I was fortunate that I was healthy, that I made it through, but I was close. I was very close.”
Farquharson believes he got it from a hotel in Daytona Beach. The bacteria are also known to grow in cooling towers that are part of large A/C systems for commercial or industrial buildings.
That hasn’t stopped him from taking precautions at home. Health experts suggest flushing faucets and showerheads if you haven’t used them recently. And make sure you’re properly maintaining hot tubs, humidifiers and water heaters.
“Need to open the windows up, run all the water, give it a good 5 minutes,” Farquharson suggested. “No stagnant water at all.”
He hopes his story can be a warning to others, so that what almost took his life won't take someone else’s.
“I enjoy things so much better now. I don't take things for granted,” he said. “It was a second chance.”