When the officer responded, Good, 87, told him about the death of his wife months earlier from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
The officer then told Good about his relative, Thomas Nichols, who also was afflicted by ALS and the tough time the Nichols family was having coping with his illness.
That conversation prompted Good, the former owner of one of Rock Hill's oldest car dealerships, to donate money to help Nichols, his wife and his three school-age children. Before his death in September, Good established the Alexa R. Good ALS Foundation to provide assistance for families whose relatives are afflicted with ALS.
The foundation's assets have grown to about $ 300,000, and members of the board of directors are looking to help families in York, Chester, Lancaster and Mecklenburg, N.C., counties.
"We were able to take care of my mother's needs," said foundation board chairman John D. Good. "She was a rare case."
Alexa Good was 86 when doctors diagnosed her with ALS in March 2000. She died five months later. ALS usually hits people in the prime of their lives. The illness freezes muscles, starting in the small muscles in the hands, going up the arms, then moving to the legs. Lastly, it affects speech, swallowing and breathing. The patient eventually dies of respiratory failure because the nerves that communicate with the diaphragm stop working.
As the illness progresses, ALS sufferers require more and more physical and medical assistance and eventually constant care. Insurance doesn't cover most of those additional services.
"We are looking to help families like the Nicholses," Good said. "They had to deal with it for three years."
The Nichols family used money from a fund-raiser to add a handicapped accessible room to the family home and to buy a van with a lift for Thomas. More importantly, donations paid for a full-time caregiver to look after him so his wife,
Anne, could return to work with the Rock Hill school district.
"Everything that is involved with ALS is expensive; everything is so technical," Anne Nichols said. "They try to meet each individual patient's need."
For instance, Thomas Nichols operated his motorized wheelchair with his head because he was unable to manipulate a joy stick with his hand. He also had special equipment to change channels on his television. "That was his favorite piece of equipment," Anne Nichols said.
After Thomas Nichols' death, his family donated all his equipment to the Alexa R. Good Foundation.
Since the foundation was established last year, board members have tried to distribute informational brochures to doctors' offices and other locations. At the board's most recent meeting, board member Donnie Christopher submitted a request from an ALS patient who was trying to support his family of three on $707 a month. That patient needs an operational lift to help him get out of bed and into a wheelchair or to and from the bathroom. A chair lift could cost about $3,500, Christopher said.
Since transportation to a doctor's office is a major need of ALS patients, the Good Foundation is considering contracting a lift-equipped van service to ferry ALS patients back and forth from the ALS Center in Charlotte, Christopher said.
"The more fortunate people can buy vans, but the less fortunate people can't.
That guy can't afford a van," Christopher said. "We will pay; they will have transport. We are looking for any avenue where we can help."
To reach the Alexa R. Good Foundation, write to Alexa R. Good Foundation, P.O. Box 12248, Rock Hill, SC 29731
For referrals and contributions, call Donnie Christopher at 329-2534; John D. Good at 328 -6266, ext 233; or Howard Wright at 329-2007.
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