Just before Christmas Day, a longtime Cobb County 911 dispatcher asked her community for help due to her continued bout with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as ALS.
Eulie Long, who was a dispatcher for 15 years, has seen her mobility continue to worsen since her 2017 diagnosis, her husband Sheldon told Channel 2 Action News on Christmas Eve.
Sheldon, a Cobb police officer since 2002, said the family needed help raising $15,000 so they could afford a new wheelchair van. He added that he’s been working extra jobs to help cover her mounting medical expenses.
Credit: GoFundMe
Credit: GoFundMe
“Basically the disease is attacking your nerves,” he said. “Your brain is functioning clearly, but you’re unable to control your body.”
Within 48 hours, that goal was met — and then some.
A GoFundMe page surpassed the initial $15,000 goal, reaching nearly $23,000 as of Friday afternoon. An anonymous donor also dropped off a wheelchair van at the Cobb police department, telling officers it was for the family, Channel 2 reported.
“I just couldn’t believe it when I first heard it,” Sheldon told the news station. “And when I told my wife, of course she started crying.”
The van, purchased in February, is equipped with a wheelchair ramp that will help the mother of three move around more easily. She was forced to medically retire last year since ALS, which is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, has taken away her ability to speak.
Eulie used the voice command on her cellphone to voice her appreciation Friday after hearing the news.
“We never expected this response,” she said. “We are beyond blessed.”
Credit: GoFundMe
Credit: GoFundMe
The donor left the van, the title and two sets of keys but did not leave his or her name, Channel 2 reported. They only told police that the van was supposed to be for their mother, who died this year.
According to the GoFundMe page, Eulie’s diagnosis gave her two to five years before the neurodegenerative disease takes away her “ability to talk, walk, and eventually, breathe.”
There is no cure for ALS, which affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord and causes muscle atrophy, according to the ALS Association. The organization hosts an annual "Walk to Defeat ALS" in downtown Atlanta, which raised about $700,000 this September.
Eulie and Sheldon said the family’s faith has kept them together.
“Pray daily, keep the faith and keep fighting,” Sheldon told Channel 2. “Keep up in their prayers, whoever you are, to help us to fight.”
Since the money raised no longer needs to go toward a new van, the family said they’ll use the donations to remodel a downstairs bathroom in their home to make it handicapped-accessible.
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