BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — 40-year-old Kristin Goetz with ALS hopes the Buffalo community comes together and uplift her spirits as a Christmas miracle this year.
Kristin was diagnosed with ALS three years ago after moving back from Tampa, FL, in 2019.
Kristin moved back to her Buffalo community that's when her condition kicked in, and ever since, she has been pulling through.
Yet, she has been surrounded by her four-legged friend, three-year-old Pitt, Brody, who has been taking a big responsibility in watching over her mother, Kristin.
"I've moved back to the Buffalo area three years ago. Shortly after I moved back I got diagnosed with ALS," she says. "Over the last few years holidays have become different. I don't get to get out of the house and participate in events."
Kristin tells 7 News reporter Yoselin Person she has limited family, but have Brody and her step mother on her side. However, this past Thanksgiving, she wasn't able to take part in a Thanksgiving dinner, but Brody's trainer and now Kristin's close friend, Kelli Swagel, are going above and beyond after finding out Kristin wasn't able to leave her home and participate in Thanksgiving activities.
"I wish I would've known that and have done more," Swagel says. "So I thought ahead to the future, and I said what can I do for her and I said what if I open a P.O. Box and have some letters sent to her some cards."
Kristin, Kelli, and Brody are looking forward to what the Buffalo community is known for– lifting spirits.
"She doesn't get the chance to go out and visit the community and things like that where we're able to," Kelli Swagel says. "So she really depends on Brody and her very outgoing and spunky personality to keep her going."
Kristin depends on Brody so much that she even says Brody knows when her mom needs some comfort.
"Last year, it was winter time and I was laying in bed, and I didn't have a blanket and I was freezing," she says. "I couldn't get up, and she literally jumped off my bed, grabbed the blanket, and put it on me."
Kristin hopes many in the community can help warm her spirit this holiday.
"So it'll be really nice to get these cards, and even though they're strangers, it kind of feels like family," Kristin says.
You can head over to your local post office and show some love to Kristin by sending her holiday cards at this address: P.O. BOX 551 Tonawanda, NY 14151.
