Last year Mr McDonough and partner Janine Heads flew to Auckland where Mr McDonough received a new set of lungs in a transplant operation.
Mr McDonough said prior to the operation he had about 17% to 20% lung function.
"You’re permanently breathless.
"It’s like breathing through a straw and the straw is getting more obstructed and obstructed."
He was also unable to walk very far as the oxygen content of his blood was too low.
He was diagnosed with a condition called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease which was caused by smoking, dust from grain, welding fumes and working with chemicals.
After Mr McDonough had been approved for the transplant he then had to wait for a suitable donor.
The call came at 2am when the couple were in Cromwell for the weekend. Mr McDonough was told to be in Auckland Hospital by 12 noon.
He flew out of Queenstown at 7am while Ms Heads went back to Mataura to pack and follow.
He was eventually operated on at 2.45pm and the surgery lasted about eight hours.
Other patients received organs from the same donor. However at least one did not survive the operation.
He was full of praise for the team which co-ordinated the multifaceted operation of lifting organs from the donor and transplanting them into recipients.
"It’s such a well-run programme — it is world-class."
He was on life support after the operation and it took about 36 hours for him to recover consciousness.
Five days after the operation, even though he still had drainage tubes in him, he was able to shower and dry himself.
"I hadn’t been able to dry myself without a break for probably the last 12 months."
Twenty days after the operation the feeding tube which had been inserted into his nose and down to his stomach was removed.
"The feeding tubes were absolutely vile."
He spent 23 days in hospital and then moved into Hearty Towers, a live-in facility for heart and lung patients near the hospital.
On the 42nd day after the operation the couple flew home.
Mr McDonough was very grateful for the transplant, which had "enhanced my lifestyle".
His lung function has improved to about 88% and he has put on 28kg.
While it was early days, he said he was taking it easy and had returned to work part-time.
"I can get out and do things now."
The average life expectancy for a lung transplant recipient was between seven and nine years, he said.
However, Mr McDonough is hopeful he will exceed that, given how well he has recovered.
"I was out of hospital in half the time they were even thinking possible."
His was the 397th lung transplant to be performed in New Zealand since 1992.
Now, about nine months after the operation, the biggest concern is his body will reject the transplant.
As a result, he swallows about 20 pills a day and is also on painkillers as the clam-shaped incision to open up his chest cut across many nerves which run the length of the body.
"There is a lot of nerve pain."
He is tested regularly but the time between tests is increasing.
Infection is another concern and his diet is similar to what is recommended for pregnant women, excluding shellfish and meat with blood in it.
Part of his recovery includes working with a physiotherapist to learn how to breath again.
"My diaphragm hasn’t been moving for 25 years."
Mr McDonough is one of the few people in New Zealand who have been both a donor and recipient as he donated bone marrow to a younger brother about 13 years ago.
The couple are planning to volunteer for the publicity team that encourages people to consider being an organ donor.
They said they were grateful for the support they had received from the community, staff, friends and family.
Ms Heads has written a diary of the transplant journey.
