KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After the loss of his mother to ALS, one Kansas City man granted two Chiefs fans who are ALS patients the tour of a lifetime.
Amecco Watkins kicked off The Rose Watkins ALS Tour of Dreams on Wednesday in honor of his mother, Rose Watkins, who died from ALS in 2023.
ALS stands for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and is also known as Lou Gehrig's disease.
It is a neurodegenerative disease that leads to muscle weakness and difficulty controlling movements.
It's a disease that currently has no cure.
"It’s hard when you can’t help," Watkins said. "It’s really hard."
That's when he decided to turn his loss into a gain for others.
Watkins says he got the idea to organize a football stadium tour when he went to an ALS-related event in July where Rachel Beason spoke.
“She's got a couple of Chiefs tattoos on her arm, and that's where it sparked,” Watkins said.
Beason was diagnosed with ALS in 2023.
“I'm definitely an extroverted person, and being cooped up gets hard,” Beason said.
Chad Branson knows the feeling.
“ALS kind of limits the things you can do, and so it's always nice to find a way to get out of the house and do some fun things,” Branson said. “Your attitude means everything really.”
He and Beason were the first two recipients of The Rose Watkins ALS Tour of Dreams on Wednesday.
The two took an extensive tour of GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, a place both Chiefs fans had been before.
“I’m a Chiefs fan, I’ve been in here a lot, but you don’t get to see the things we saw today,” Branson said.
Both were joined by family and loved ones.
There was one Watkins certainly had in mind.
“My mom was a huge Chiefs fan,” Watkins said. “And when I do this today, I envision her here right now.”
Watkins says his mother was the type to give her last penny to someone.
“What I’m doing today is definitely something she would have done for others,” Watkins said.
And he wants to do it for even more people. He’s hoping to expand this series of tours to other states.
“I just wish that people would give back more than they would receive sometimes,” Watkins said.
Beason and Branson say they were both incredibly grateful for the experience.
“Being able to meet those people that have been affected in some way and then start something like this is super cool,” Beason said. “Being able to come have an experience like this, it really lifts my spirits.”
Watkins could tell.
“It says a lot to see them smiling, and it tells me that they're really grateful and appreciative of this,” he said. “It means a lot.”
KSHB 41 reporter Rachel Henderson covers neighborhoods in Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties. Share your story idea with Rachel.
