Frates Family Helps North Andover Woman Navigate Husband's ALS Diagnosis

CBS Boston

May 13, 2025

Nicole Johnson plays "Ring Around the Rosie" with her three kids, ages 5, 3, and under 1 on her North Andover lawn. On the outside, she is calm and smiling, unable to tumble under pressure. On the inside, Johnson says her head is brimming with loose ends needing to be tied and grief she has no time to feel.

On Valentine's Day 2024, Nicole's husband Chuck was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or ALS, a fatal neurological disease, while Nicole was expecting their youngest. A few months after baby Jenna's birth, via C-section, Chuck was already confined to a wheelchair and Nicole took over his care, helping him into the car and watching him overnight.

"I started doing that probably like a month postpartum out of necessity," she said.

Nicole Johnson and Nancy Frates/CBS Boston

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