Fort Myers Beach rallies around Cape Coral mom to help buy wheelchair accessible van

"How can you be mad about showing up for work and getting to look at sailboats all day long?" Amanda Brown said. Amanda works on Fort Myers Beach, but when she's home in Cape Coral, she's spending time with her 6-year-old daughter, Amara. "Her condition is called Pelizaeus-Merzbacher-like disease, and we did not get a diagnosis until she was 3-and-a-half," said Amanda. "The strain that it puts on my back and my body just in general, we had to switch over from the van I did have, because it was breaking down." A couple of weeks ago, Amanda created a GoFundMe page to raise money for a new van. People on Fort Myers Beach took notice. "Amanda sent me an email asking if I'd share her GoFundMe page, which I said, sure, I'll share that," said Ed Ryan from Beach Talk Radio. "It was a thousand here, a thousand there, and before we knew it, it was ten thousand dollars." The community raised enough for Amanda to accept a new wheelchair accessible van. For a town that's lost so much, somehow, Fort Myers Beach hasn't lost heart. DOWNLOAD the free Gulf Coast News app for your latest news and alerts on breaking news, weather, sports, entertainment, and more on your phone or tablet. And check out the Very Local Gulf Coast app to stream news, entertainment, and original programming on your TV.