Auburn rallying for Deal’s father

AUBURN | What Nick Brahms started, the entire Auburn family is working to finish.

Brahms began a fundraiser for Chris Deal, the father of Auburn tight end Luke Deal, who was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in January. Commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, it is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.

Brahms started the GoFundMe page on Monday. By Tuesday it had grown to over $30K and was closing in on $50K Friday morning. The goal is to raise $300K in order to renovate the Deal home and purchase a van.

“It's been amazing, man,” said Brahms. “I really had no clue going into it how much money we would raise for them. I just know we needed to raise money for them. His mom was talking to my mom about them having to renovate their house and get a new van, that kind of thing, just to make it wheelchair-accessible. I know his dad, his bathroom wasn't renovated, so he had to go shower somewhere else just to get ready for the day, just because it wasn't wheelchair-accessible. The cost of that thing, maybe some people don't think about it when it comes to ALS and losing that motor function in your limbs. And I think it's big that the Auburn family has provided for them.

“It's really been an awesome thing to see. Luke, he means a lot to this football team. His family means a lot to this football team. They have done a lot for us. We just wanted to give back to them and try to create something good for them, because they're going through hard times right now. But they keep a smile on their face. They always have positive energy, every game.”

Click HERE to view and donate to Chris Deal’s GoFundMe page.