Couple trek across country to raise awareness of hepatitis C

By

Posted 8:12AM on Saturday, January 4, 2003

EVANS - His journey cost him a new liver, but Paul Hagan is determined to get back on the road to raise awareness of his illness, hepatitis C. ``There are too many people out there that have this disease that I've got to get to,'' said Hagan. The 61-year-old former carpet layer and his wife, Deborah Simone, hope to walk across the 48 contiguous states on a ``Journey of Hope.'' Simone walks along the road while Hagan drives three miles ahead in their RV, stopping to wait for her. Their 8,000-mile route extends to Los Angeles, up the West Coast and back across the country. They're in for a long trip traveling an average 20 miles a day, six days a week, the couple will finish in Washington, D.C. in about three years. The 900 miles Simone has walked so far have taken the couple through the Carolinas, Tennessee, Virginia, Kentucky and Georgia. They educate as they go and, as a Journey of Hope, Inc., a nonprofit organization, accept money for public education. ``Three miles at a time, all the way through,'' Hagan said. Hepatitis C is a viral infection of the liver and the most common blood-borne infection in the United States. An estimated 3.9 million Americans have hepatitis C, which rarely is discovered until the person has blood tests for an unrelated reason. By then, the virus often has damaged the liver. The couple's journey, which began Sept. 11 was cut short after Hagan's liver began to fail Nov. 7. He needed a transplant but was removed from the waiting list at Emory University in Atlanta after it was unable to contact him. Hagan's cell phone gave out early in the trip. The ensuing complications left Hagan 60 pounds heavier as fluids accumulated in his body. He spent two weeks in a hospital. Hagan contracted the virus in 1979 from a tainted blood transfusion during back surgery. But he didn't experience severe symptoms until 1993.