Pope Meets 5-Year-Old Girl Suffering From Rare Disease

5-year-old Lizzy Myers from Ohio doesn’t yet know she’s suffering from Usher’s Syndrome, a rare disease which will take away her hearing and gradually make her blind.

Her parents said they intend telling Lizzy, who is already wearing a hearing aid, about her condition as soon as she starts asking questions.

According to reports, Lizzy who could be blind in about 7 years has what her parents call a ”Visual Bucket List” which are sites, places and things she could possibly see before she finally goes blind.

As part of the ‘Bucket List’, the Myers family chose to travel to Rome because of its history and beauty and other places with some of the wonders of the world. And she got to meet the Pope.

Lizzy and her parents were given special seats at Pope Francis’ general audience in St Peter’s Square, where the pontiff spoke briefly to them.

The Pope, after meeting with the Myers family, gave Lizzy a rosary and blessed her eyes upon hearing the news of her condition. Lizzy’s father, Steve Myers said he had been nervous ahead of Wednesday’s audience but that as the pope approached his family, he felt an incredible sense of calm.

”You know, I believe myself, and I think that what Pope Francis has done for her, if there is any chance for a miracle, it would be there. He asked that we pray for him and said that he would be praying for us.”

”I feel like I have very little time to show her so much,” Steve Myers said.

Her mother, Christine said she and her husband wanted to make sure that she also saw simple things while she could ”like bonfires and fireflies.”

Seeing the Pope was one of the experiences at the top of the ‘bucket list’. After reading about her condition, an airline offered the Myers family a round-trip tickets to anywhere in the world and the family chose Rome.