HOOVER, Ala. (WBRC/Gray News) – An Alabama couple says after years of trying to figure out why they were experiencing health issues, they learned their home is full of toxic mold.
The Early family purchased their home in Hoover in 2022. A month later, their daughter started experiencing a bad cough.
Shortly after, Stephen Early said he developed adult asthma with Kendall Early showing stroke-like symptoms.
“It got to a point where I was feeling drunk in the house and bumping into walls and having trouble walking. I started having seizures, I was being tested for epilepsy and MS. But when it was happening, mold was still not on our minds,” Kendall Early said.
The Early family said the home had no musty-like smell that mold typically puts off and no mold was visible.
But after seeing a TikTok video of a woman who had similar health issues, they decided to get their home tested for mold.
The couple said the test showed their home has four toxic molds growing in places they could not see and is 500 times above normal levels.
“It’s in the walls, it’s in the decking of the roof, it’s in the subfloor, it’s in our crawl space, it’s in the HVAC. It’s pretty much hidden anywhere it could be hidden,” Kendall Early said.
The home and all of its possessions are a total loss and having it cleaned or restored costs thousands of dollars.
“Six figures is just to get the house back livable and then we have to replace everything in it. Clothes, furniture,” Stephen Early said.
The Early family said they have been forced out of their own home due to the mold and Kendall Early’s rapid decline in health.
According to the couple, they are paying a mortgage on a house they can’t live in and insurance does not cover mold.
Kendall Early said she is passionate about telling their story, hoping it can help save people from similar complications.
“If you’re having unexplained symptoms, chronic illness, if there is no obvious explanation for you being sick or someone in your family being sick, please test your home for mold because you won’t always see it,” she said.
Friends and family have started a GoFundMe to help the family as they deal with the mold situation. So far, they have helped raise more than $20,000.
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