The plight of one furloughed federal government worker's family recently got the attention of former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf.

Taylor Futch, a Gatlinburg, Tennessee, mother of two, first made news with a pre-Christmas tweet about the hardships of the partial government shutdown. The tweet went viral, liked some 58,000 times.

“My husband is a Park Ranger in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and he had to sign his furlough papers,” it read. “We have a 4 yr (sic) old and a 4 month old, and we don't know when his next check will come. Mortgage is due, Christmas 2 days away. #ShutdownStories.”

In response, she received hundreds of tweets, a lot of thoughts and prayers, a couple packs of diapers in the mail and a few offers of money.

This included a check covering their January mortgage from Leaf, who saw her original tweet and reached out to her.

“You don’t know me, but my grandfather was a game warden in Montana and we spent our vacations going to our 2 (sic) national parks,” Leaf tweeted. “Anna, and my son McGyver & I would love to help with your mortgage if you will allow. #MerryXmas.”

Futch graciously accepted. Leaf, the No. 2 overall pick of the 1998 NFL draft who played only 25 career games in three seasons, wouldn’t take no for an answer..

The shutdown was triggered by President Donald Trump’s demands for $5.7 billion to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border and Democrats' refusal to give him the money.

Wednesday, she said she wasn’t trying to ask for help, but wanted to tell their story and show how the shutdown was impacting families preparing for Christmas.

Her husband is a park ranger at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where he specializes as a wildlife biologist. She asked his name not be in the story to prevent him from receiving backlash from park officials. Park employees have been directed not to speak to the media during the shutdown, she said.

“I mean, he’s got a 401(k), but we shouldn’t have to go cash that out to pay our mortgage,” she said. “We are the people who are suffering because of this.

“Just open the damn government and fight about what you want to fight about later,” she said.