Kaysville couple urges Utahns to help special education teacher pay for son’s treatment
KAYSVILLE, Utah (ABC4) — Natalie Prescott is described as a woman who gives her all. Someone who will drop everything just to give someone in need something as small as a hug without asking for anything in return. Now her friends, neighbors, and community say it’s her turn to receive, rather than give.
“She’s just one of those people that you meet,” said Sarah Garner, Prescott’s teacher assistant at Snow Horse Elementary School. “You immediately can just feel like she’s just a loving person.”
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“It’s just been great for us to, you know, be able to show her love in a way that she always shows love to others,” added Garner’s husband, Brett.
Prescott is a special education teacher but also a single mother of three little boys. Garner says she recently moved to Utah for her 10-year-old son, Beckham, who they say is in the fight for his life.
“Her little boy, Beckham, is in fifth grade, and he has a condition called PMD, which is a degenerative neurological disease. There’s no cure for it. There’s no known treatment course.”
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Strokes says PMD, which is short for Pelizaeus-Merzbacher Disease; is a rare, degenerative, and progressive central nervous system disorder known for deteriorating one’s motor abilities and cognitive functions.
“The disease is one of a group of disorders known as the leukodystrophies, which affect growth of the myelin sheath—the fatty covering that wraps around and protects nerve fibers in the brain,” NIH says.
Prescott moved to Utah from Arkansas five years ago to begin PMD treatments for her son at the Primary Children’s Hospital. But since starting her full-time teaching job, Prescott no longer qualifies to receive aid for her son’s treatments, as she exceeds the “countable income” to qualify.
“What it’s called is it’s called Supplemental Security Income,” Garner said. “So she found out, what, a month ago, a couple of months ago, that that was going away.”
Now, without that additional aid, Prescott is struggling. However, Garner said she’d never admit it and immediately pushes for others to receive aid rather than her.
“She was just like, there’s so many people that, you know, we’ve been so blessed. There’s so many people that have greater needs than I do,” Garner said.
While the Garners say Prescott will always put others before herself, they believe now is her time to put herself first.
“I just can’t think of a better situation or a better time to if you’re going to donate or make any charitable donations. This is one of those times.”
If you’re interested in donating to help Prescott, the Garner’s have set up a GoFundMe in her name to help with medical costs for her son.
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