A man from Milford is sharing his story of overcoming a serious disease.

The only visible sign of 30-year-old Steve Cupole's rare lung disease, called PAP, is the oxygen tubes he wears while working out.

Three years ago, after spending a month in the intensive care unit, Cupole had to carry and use oxygen everywhere he went. His outlook at the time was not good.

But his trainer, Tony Gee, had a hunch. He says Cupole had been a client off and on at BodyMatrix in Fairfield for more than a decade, and Gee says Cupole was at least 100 pounds overweight when he was diagnosed.

Gee reached out to his friend in hope of offering some hope. Gee says he told Cupole at the time that his body was working less because he was overweight.

Steve Cupole is now 90 pounds lighter, and able to once again do everything he could do before he was diagnosed.

He says the medicine started to progressively activate and do what it's supposed to do as he lost weight. 

Steve says the only time he needs oxygen now is while exercising and sleeping. It's an example, he says, of how most of us have more control over our health than we think.