Photo: Contributed

A Kelowna teacher has been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease.

A woman who has been a Kelowna teacher for 25 years needs the help of others after being diagnosed with an incurable disease. 

Isabel Alves-Vicente has spent her days educating children and has been noted as a favourite to many students.

This summer, she was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease, or ALS.

A GoFundMe page has been created to help cover fees for medicine.

“Due to the help of these compassionate professionals she is maintaining a reasonable quality of life but in order to slow progression of this insidious disease, there is an experimental drug that is not available in Canada,” states the page.

One person posted on the page “my kids loved your kindergarten class. You are a special teacher with a heart of gold.”

Alves-Vicente is also a daughter, sister, wife and mom.

“You are in our thoughts and prayers; you are one of the teachers who left a huge impact on our son; I also loved helping out in your classroom,” said Cassandra Heinzman.

Many people posted on the GoFundMe about her excellence as a teacher.

“We don't know if this drug only requires one or more years of use,” states the page. "So for now we are asking for your help to get Isabel the first month's dosage.”