WYOMING, Mich. — After sharing their fight against Alzheimer's in a viral video, the local community is supporting a couple by dedicating their time and money to help find a cure.
Alan & Mary Beth Beamer's video gives an in-depth look at living with Alzheimer's has grabbed global attention and support from all walks of life, even A-list celebrities. But Friday night, support came from Alan's Alma mater, Wyoming High School.
The school dedicated Friday night's basketball game to Alan Beamer and families living with Alzheimer's. Students wore Alan's name on their warm-up jerseys while raising money for the National Alzheimer's Association.
"These people coming here this year and doing this wonderful kind of stuff like them, I just wanna kiss em," said Beamer.
Alan Beamer is fighting for his life suffering from Visual Variant Alzheimer's, a rare form of the disease often paired with dementia and unexplained vision loss.
"It's not as strange as I thought it would be, I have been back a couple of times before," said Alan Beamer. "I guess I mean I was here a lot of years, it just kept on getting bigger."
Alan remembers walking the halls of Wyoming H.S., otherwise known as Rogers back in his day. He was a star football player with a bright future after graduating from Ferris State University.
"When he left Ferris, the Dallas Cowboys and the Cleveland Browns wanted him to play," said Mary Beth Beamer.
However, Alan was searching for something even more special.
"I wanted a baby and I wanted to get married," said Alan Beamer.
Mary Beth has been the love of his life ever since, taking on the role of 'caretaker' after his diagnosis. His family's now forced to watch Beamer slowly fade away, but they're finding hope from a loving community showing their support, raising money to help find a cure.
5.4 million people are living with Alzheimers, according to the Alzheimer's Association. You can help the Beamers by donating to their Gofundme page.
