NEW GLOUCESTER – George Carman, the New Gloucester firefighter who underwent double lung transplant surgery in February, is stunning his doctors, family and friends with his rapid return to health.

Carman, who is known for his positive attitude despite suffering from cystic fibrosis, is living in a hotel close to the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in Manhattan, awaiting his doctors’ OK to return to Maine. Enjoying the spring air and his newfound energy, Carman and his wife, Amy, spend hours a day walking the city streets, something the 44-year-old could never have managed prior to surgery.

And, not wanting to miss the annual Daddy-Daughter Dance at Gray-New Gloucester Middle School, an event he helps to organize each year, Carman made a quick trip home to New Gloucester last weekend to enjoy the night with his daughter Annie. Only able to accompany his daughter in the slow dances in past years due to his poor lung capacity, this year Carman was able to dance the whole night, during fast and slow songs, he said.

“It was great. We had an amazing time,” said Carman during a phone interview on Tuesday from his Manhattan hotel room.

The return was also a chance to reconnect with family and friends after about two months away.

“It’s absolutely amazing,” said his father-in-law, David Oliver, who came down from Millinocket to take care of the Carmans’ daughter while her parents are away. “We saw them off before they went to the dance and it was pretty special. We took pictures and he looks great. Everybody is amazed at his good color.”

During a lung function test on Monday, Carman said, his lung capacity, determined by a breath test, registered at 110 percent for a man his age. That is a whopping 90 percent better than what it was when he entered the hospital in early February for an emergency lung transplant.

Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disease that affects about 30,000 people in the United States. It leaves the sufferer struggling for air due to thick mucus buildup in the lungs. Gradual buildup also affects other organs, such as the pancreas, which impacts the digestive system.

And Carman was in dire straits in the months before the surgery, taking ill over the winter. However, all that sickness, weakness, coughing and grayish skin tone are distant memories now.

“I feel great,” Carman said. “We just came back from a two-and-a-half-hour walk. We walked by the Empire State Building. The other day, we walked 94 blocks, which is about five miles. We don’t have a destination, we just go wherever.”

Carman says he may be back home for Easter if his doctors approve.

“I feel completely different,” Carman said. “I never cough. I don’t gasp between taking breaths anymore. My color is nice and pink because my blood is more oxygenated. I’m regaining muscle mass, since muscles need oxygen to grow. And I don’t have to take naps. I used to take one- to two-hour naps every day. Now I don’t have to.”

He had originally planned to stay for up to a year in Manhattan, close by the hospital should complications arise. The only downside to his recovery is the 60 pills a day he must take to keep his body from rejecting the transplant, and a slight loss of appetite due to the drugs.

But those are minor irritants to a man who for all of his life has dealt with the disease, which forced him to spend hours a day wearing a vest that vibrated his chest to release mucus build-up, and left him feeling exhausted even after minor physical exertion.

Soon, he hopes to be back to his job selling International truck parts at Morrison & Sylvester in Auburn. And, of course, getting back to volunteer firefighting.

“I’d say we like the city, but it’s not home. It’ll be good to get back,” Carman said.

His friends are eager for him to come back, too. Carman uses his laptop to communicate via Skype and has talked online with members of the New Gloucester Fire Department as well as the Raymond Fire Department, where longtime friend Bruce Tupper is deputy chief.

“I’m so happy for him,” Tupper said. “He’s been just so determined since he got on the list, and it’s just a great success story. We’re wicked happy for him here.”

Charissa Kerr, a captain in Raymond, drove to visit Carman in New York with a member of the Saco Fire Department the first weekend of April. During that time, they visited Firehouse No. 10 at the World Trade Center site.

“We knocked on the door and the firefighters there let us in and showed us around,” Kerr said. “It was pretty amazing. We told them about George and they were amazed he had had a transplant and amazed at how fast he had recuperated.”

And since he volunteers for New Gloucester, his colleagues there are eager for his speedy return.

“To his family and friends, we know he is doing well since he finally has color, something some of his closest friends have never seen,” said Scott Doyle, a New Gloucester firefighter and chairman of the New Lungs for George campaign.

Fire Chief Gary Sacco, who has chatted via Skype with Carman in recent weeks as well, is likewise amazed at the recovery.

“I think it’s outstanding,” Sacco said. “It’s terrific he hasn’t had any complications and doing even better than expected. His time may be shorter having to live down in New York City, which is good too, since living expenses are high. The sooner he can get back the better.”

While the group was able to raise about $200,000 since 2004 when Carman was identified as needing new lungs, expenses have been steep in New York, and donations, Doyle said, are still needed.

“The donation dollars have continued to come in, and, just in the past couple months, over an additional $9,500 have come in, and donations are still needed,” Doyle said. “George will still be traveling from Maine to NYC every three weeks to have check-ups, the reason for monies still being a need. He will make those travels when he comes back to Maine permanently.”

George Carman, the namesake of the New Lungs for George campaign, and his daughter Annie, posed for this family photo prior to leaving for last Saturday night’s Fifth Annual Daddy-Daughter Dance at Gray-New Gloucester Middle School. Carman is doing extremely well and may be back home in New Gloucester within a few weeks. (Courtesy photo)