PHOENIX (CBS5) -
In Arizona, a broken air conditioner is not only an annoyance, it can be deadly.
A valley family is paying it forward while staying cool.
Musa Othman and his wife, Monica Othman can laugh now, but it has been a long, hot summer.
"It's like being in a fiery furnace, a fiery furnace. It's hot," Monica Othman said.
The young couple scrambled and scraped to put the money together just in time to fix the A/C in their car before little Zoe could arrive.
Then the A/C in the house went out in mid-August when temperatures were pushing 110 degrees.
"We just tried to cope with it the best we could. Extra fans, cold showers, you know. Not fully dressed sometimes," Monica Othman said.
You need to understand something about the Othmans, even in scorching temperatures, even with mortgage and electric bills piling up and falling behind, they still took in a struggling mother and son from their church who desperately needed a place to stay.
"We had days where we pulled out our hair and didn't know what we were going to do," Musa Othman said.
Jeffery Riley is friends with the Othmans from church and said they never complained or really even spoke of their problems. Instead they continued to think only of others.
"Musa is a great guy," Riley said. "He puts together fundraisers, he is our team leader."
Riley called CBS 5 News to say he thought it was time his team leader caught a break.
Riley paid it forward and with the $500 the Othmans received, they got a new A/C that is more than enough to beat back the heat.
"It was wonderful to be able to sit on the couch and watch a movie without sweating," Musa Othman said.
Through it all, the Othmans never lost faith that things would work out. They even helped the homeless family that was staying with them to find a new place that has an A/C and even a pool.
"God has left me awestruck," Monica Othman said.
Copyright 2012 CBS 5 (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.
Musa and Monica Othman, Pay It Forward recipients
