An Idaho woman has had a tough year, but a Secret Santa’s gift has given her a ray of hope.

Alyssa Sale, a mother of eight children, said she was diagnosed with AHUS, a blood disorder that requires her to have blood infusions every two weeks, in February.

Sale had just given birth to her eighth child and began hemorrhaging after the birth.

Doctors said the condition is supposed to make it impossible to have children, but Sale said it's the first time she’s had any problems.

She's been struggling to deal with the disorder in the months since.

“It wasn’t something we have ever dealt with before," Sale told InisdeeEdiiton.com. "It can cause blood clots to shut down organs. I had gone into kidney failure... It has been a struggle for our family.”

That struggle has been financial as well as physical, so when a $10,000 check showed up at her door as part of a Secret Santa imitative to give $200,000 to families in need, she was shocked. 

“This was an absolute surprise,” Sale said. "We have watched these Secret Santa stories for years and have thought they were amazing. I don’t know who nominated us.”

The mom was overwhelmed with emotion as she opened the tin that housed the check. In a video captured by East Idaho News last week, she burst into tears.

“I was absolutely shocked and very overwhelmed,” Sale said. “It’s been a really rough year for our family. When you are sick, in the beginning everybody is there and then the help kind of dies off. This just spoke to the fact that people still care.”

Sale said her family hasn’t decided what they will do with the money yet, but it is certainly a huge help.

“We’re extremely grateful for the Secret Santa," she said. "It’s an amazing thing that they are doing in our area."

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