LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- The family of a 9-year-old New Albany girl with an incurable disease hopes experimental trials at a Chicago hospital will provide a chance to overcome the fatal condition. 

Zoey Alford was diagnosed in August 2023 with Niemann Pick Type-C. It's a rare inherited disease that causes damage to the nervous system over time. The fatal disease is caused by abnormal processing in body tissues of fatty substances (lipids), particularly cholesterol.

Niemann Pick is also known as Children’s Alzheimer's and currently has no cure. Now Zoey's parents have her taking part in an experimental trial at the Rush Hospital in Chicago. 

Zoey's father, a technician at Taylor Enterprise, has worked on equipment at the New Albany McDonald's at 802 Hausfeldt Lane for years, and the restaurant's staff and owner consider him a friend. That's why it's donating half of the proceeds from sales on April 17, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

"We are hoping to ease the financial burden this family is facing and to be able to help them give Zoey the most amazing memories ever," said McDonald's Owner/Operator Sean Bauer. "We’d like to help make this little girl's life amazing while she is capable of getting around on her own."

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