Faithful Friday: Blink: A Family’s Journey of Acceptance after a diagnosis of Retinitis Pigmentosa
by: Debbie Waltz
How would you react if you found out that three out of your four children were losing their eyesight?
That was the terrifying reality facing the Pelletier family. Diagnosed with Retinitis pigmentosa, the family knew it was only a matter of time. They turned to a specialist, determined to get the best advice, who advised them to start filling up their children’s “visual” memory as much as possible. That would give the children the best chance of coping while providing a point of reference when their eyesight began deteriorated. But rather than just pictures, Edith wanted her children to have actual experiences to go along with the memories.
It was then that the Pelletier family decided to take a year-long sabbatical to travel world and share its beauty with their children. But where to go first? Since the kids’ ages vary, it was unclear what they would be interested in doing. Hence, the bucket list. The one item the family agreed on was going on a safari together; The best place to do that was Namibia. From there, they took a train to Tanzania because Colin liked trains and really wanted to sleep on one. Then, it was off to Turkey where the kids being kids wanted to eat ice cream. The oldest, Mia, recounted her dream of a Mongolian horseback adventure, the scent of the steppes already in her imagination; they left immediately.
What was the funding source for this trip? Shortly before the family left, news of the company Sebastian worked for being sold spread; thankfully he had stock in them and that provided the family with a 200 dollar a day budget for the trip. Instead of opting for regular hotel stays, the family camped and stayed in communities of the places they visited.
Director Edmund Stenson and Daniel Roher do a brilliant job documenting their adventures. Towing the line between adventurous and inspirational, the duo shows the importance of maintaining a cohesive family unit while coping with going blind. Though united as a family, each child comes to terms with their diagnosis and their own unique way. While they still fight as all siblings do, they remain united by the fact that the only way they’re going to get through this is together.
“I knew Laurent knew he was going blind; what he didn’t know what it meant to be blind.” Being only 5 at the time, she was forced to explain it in terms a child could understand.
“That question was like an arrow to my heart [having to explain to my youngest about the realities of becoming blind]” said Edith.
Despite this, they remain hopeful and blissfully optimistic about what the future holds. During one part of their adventure, they embarked on a 9 day trek of the Himalayan Mountains which ended on Poon Hill in Nepal, where they celebrated Leo’s birthday. It was then that Leo wished that he wanted invent a cure for blindness.
The trip had its own share of difficulties though- beginning with Sebastian’s reaction to a insect bite as well as a nine-hour delay descending from the mountains (the cable car got stuck and they had to get rescued by firefighters.
The documentary is on Disney Plus
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For further research you can access the following websites:
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blink-after-their-kids-were-diagnosed-with-an-incurable-disease-montreal-parents-let-them-see-the-world-205749801.html
https://www.facebook.com/PleinLeursYeux/