If you learned you were going to go blind, what are some of the things you'd want to see before it happened? Most of us will never have to answer that question, but this five-year-old girl has a visual bucket list that she is crossing off, one landmark and skyline at a time. Lizzy Myers, a bright and energetic girl from South Carolina, was recently diagnosed with the rare genetic condition Usher Syndrome Type II. Although she is not aware of her condition yet, in the next five to seven years it will cause progressive blindness, particularly loss of peripheral and night vision. Her parents have decided to seize the opportunity that the early diagnosis has allowed them by making sure Lizzy sees as many amazing sights as she can.
One of their first stops was Warren Rupp Observatory, where Lizzy observed the moon and the night sky through their high powered telescope. "I can see that moon really close!" said Lizzy in a video captured by the Mansfield News Journal. The observatory even gave her one of their telescopes to take home with her so that she can see the night sky from the comfort of her own home.
The Myers family only recently got Lizzy's diagnosis after she struggled with hearing loss, now managed with a hearing aid. After several rounds of doctors, her parents were reluctant to pursue genetic testing, but at their doctor's urging they put Lizzy through another round of tests.
"If they hadn’t pushed us for genetic testing we would never have known what’s to come for Lizzy," said Steve Meyers, Lizzy's father, to the Mansfield News Journal. "Then it would have been too late."
Over the next few years, the family plans to travel together to see other awe-inspiring sights, including the Grand Canyon, the Northern Lights, Niagara Falls, and Yellowstone National Park. In the meantime, that are hopeful that studies at Boston Children’s Hospital in Massachusetts will make headway in finding a cure, and that Lizzy might eventually be a part of the trials.
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