Graham McCumber was finishing his last few days of his 23rd year when he was infected with the rat lungworm parasite in Hawaii. He had been living in Hawaii for almost a year before he was infected.

Prior to infection he was a healthy young man who worked with his hands in construction and masonry jobs and enjoyed surfing and skateboarding.



Before getting sick Graham had had a chance to see some of the rest of the world after finishing high school.

Graham went traveling. He lived in Bali with a Balinese family for six months, traveled to India and Thailand, and spent time in the Bahamas with family and finally headed to Puerto Rico, where he spent several months enjoying surfing, working on his Spanish, and learning the culture.

Graham was admitted to the hospital two days before he turned 24 years old. He spent four months in the hospital, three months of which he was in a coma and not expected to live or ever recover.


Graham has made a remarkable, though somewhat incomplete recovery. His vision and balance, along with memory issues and other cognitive functions have been affected and will always be something he will have to live with.

Graham's age is a large factor in his recovery, it is not at all certain that an older person would be able to recover if they were in as serious a condition.

A woman was hospitalized around the same time as Graham and went into a coma just before he did. She is 14 years older than Graham. Her recovery is not very promising even though she is in a very good medical facility in Germany.

However, he has a fantastic service dog named Hebat and is currently taking strides to become independent again.

He hopes to start a career in massage therapy in the near future as he is drawn to the healing arts.

Graham can attribute his recovery to an amazing and positive attitude, good food, rest, exercise, alternative therapies including acupuncture, intravenous vitamin therapy, chiropractic, and supplements.


Graham wrote a book about the illness and what insights he has gleaned from it. More recently Graham wrote another book related to the experience

Truth; A Prayer to the Full Moon

Creator Book: Reaching Your Potential as a Human Being

Proceeds from these books augment his small, social security allowance.

While it has been a long and arduous road to recovery, it has been far beyond what doctors ever thought was possible. Graham hopes to continue his travels again in the future.

Dr. Susan Jarvi's lab, located at the Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy at UH Hilo, currently has two main areas of investigation: avian pathogens and rat lungworm disease.
Read More...



Rebekah Uccellini Kuby worked in Hawaii doing community development and poverty alleviation projects for years. She has helped to create more than 23 organic gardens — many in areas once deemed to be food deserts.
Read More...



Kaye Howe was living in Indonesia when her son contracted Rat Lungworm Disease in Oahu. Her son Graham, was hospitalized at the Hilo Medical Center on December 26, 2008 with Rat Lungworm Disease.
Read More...