By Hanna Kimball

Fieldstone Middle School math teacher, Donna Myhre, has been battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) for the last four years. She has received incredible support from her community, the most recent being house renovations done by the NBC show “George to the Rescue.”

Myhre’s fellow teacher and friend, Carol Pittarelli, spoke to the show’s host, George Oliphant, at the Health and Fitness Expo held at Metlife Stadium. She gave him a letter written by another Fieldstone Middle School teacher. This letter, she says, “…was just generally about her background and contact information.” Pittarelli felt like she and Oliphant “made a connection and he knew exactly what had to be done.”

On the last day of school, Myhre received a phone call from the show, saying that they were interested in seeing if she was a potential candidate. Then after a few interviews, the television crew came and surprised Myhre and her family by telling them that they were going to redo the bathroom.

Although the show originally said they were only going to redo the bathroom, they ended up renovating the kitchen, as well as redecorating Myhre’s daughter’s room.

The renovations included “all new cabinets, counters, floors, appliances. They made the sinks so [Myhre] could roll under it with the wheelchair. In the bathroom, there is no bathtub anymore it is like one big shower room. They just tried to make it more spacious for the wheelchair,” said Myhre, who also said how they knocked down a wall to open up the hallway and even lowered the oven so she is able to access it.

Overall, Myhre says she had an incredible experience with members of the show. She said that they “were super nice, they treated you like family. They were so kind, considerate, helpful, they really just want to try to make people’s lives a little bit easier and they do their best to do that.”

Throughout Myhre’s battle with ALS, her friends and family have always been there for support. Their support especially helped Myhre, she says, on the day the show recorded the reveal episode. “You know I always feel like personally I don’t deserve [things like this home renovation], so many other people deserve it, and when so many people, even former students were here and some parents were here, it just helped to accept it more and although the reason why you’re getting something so good and generous is not for the best reason, it is very helpful to have people who care around to make the sad moments happier.”

The episode of “George to the Rescue” is scheduled to air on NBC on October 22 at 7 p.m.