Pope Francis, at the end of
his general audience on Wednesday, greeted Lizzy Myers, a
five-year-old American girl who has a rare genetic illness
called Usher syndrome type II that will cause her to eventually
go blind and suffer hearing loss.
The pontiff put his hands on her eyes and chatted briefly
with her family.
The family flew to Rome on a free round-trip ticket given
to them by Turkish Airlines' general manager Tuncay Eminoğlu,
who was touched after learning of Lizzy's story and offered them
a ticket for anywhere in the world.
Lizzy's parents are both Catholic and her mum is of Italian
origin, and Lizzy said she wanted to see the pope at least once.
Her parents said that last year they had made a visual
bucket list of "must-see things" before her sight leaves her,
which doctors estimate will happen over the next five to seven
years.
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