Pole Vaulter With Cystic Fibrosis Clears Odds For Survival

BOSTON (CBS) -- Clearing the bar and the challenges of life and living with cystic fibrosis far longer than anyone thought he would, Jerry Cahill says exercise has made all the difference.  He is in Boston for the premiere of a documentary about his extraordinary life.  This pole vaulter from New York not only has beaten the odds, he's crushed them.

"I'm 60 years old today, yes," says Cahill smiling.

And that's a remarkable feat.  Jerry was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when he was a kid.

"You build up a bacteria, the mucus gets really thick, and it starts to clog up the airways," he says.

When Jerry was diagnosed the average life expectancy for someone with CF was in the teens.  Today it's 38.

"When I was diagnosed the doctors told my parents, you'll be lucky if your son makes it to his 16th birthday," Jerry says.

Now remember, Jerry is celebrating his 60th birthday today.  It's serious, intense exercise that Jerry thinks has made the difference.

"When I got out of college I was a pole vaulter, did a lot of running, gymnastics, weight lifting," he says.

A new documentary called "Up For Air" traces Jerry's life and struggle with CF and shows how his fitness routine is it's own form of therapy.

"I think it's the best way of airway clearance is through exercise, and the running and the coughing really helps clear out your lungs," he says.

But since CF is progressive, Jerry's lung power eventually diminished to a dangerous level.

"One bad infection can have you take a nose dive.  I was spending over 15 hours a day doing therapies," says Jerry.

Four years ago he received a double lung transplant and now he continues his exercise program and continues to fight the disease.

"I will be biking 600 miles this year on the west coast to raise awareness for cystic fibrosis.  I turned 60 today and we're going to do sixty events in the year I turn 60," he says.

Today Jerry visited Vertex Pharmaceuticals in Boston, a company that has developed 2 medicines to fight CF.  Employees there had a special screening of the documentary, and the company held a birthday party for Jerry.

The documentary "Up For Air" screens tonight (June 27) at 7:30 at the Kendall Sq. Cinema.  It's sponsored by the Boomer Esiason Foundation to fight cystic fibrosis.  There are about 35,000 people in the US with the disease.