A Canadian couple decided to take their four children on a world tour, to see all the landmarks and countries before these children lose their sight, after they were diagnosed with a rare genetic condition that causes vision loss.
Daughter of Canadian couple Sebastien Pelletier and Edith LeMay, Mia was just three years old when her parents first noticed her vision problems in 2011.
Four years after she was first taken to a specialist, Mia, the eldest of four siblings and now 12, was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a rare genetic condition that causes vision loss over time.
Immediately after her diagnosis, LeMay and Pelletier noticed that two of their sons, Colin, now seven, and Laurent, five, had the same symptoms.
Upon examination, the boys were diagnosed with the same genetic disorder in 2019.
Months ago, their fourth son, Liu, 9, was also diagnosed with the disease.
There is currently no effective treatment to slow the progression of retinitis pigmentosa.
Trying to come to terms with reality, Lemay and Pelletier focused their attention on helping their children form visual memories in their brains and build the skills they might need to cope with vision loss.
The couple believed that the best way to do this was to devote an entire year to traveling around the world with their children, so that they could see the landmarks and landscapes in all countries of the world, and learn about different cultures.
The sale of the company in which Pelletier worked, and in which he owned many shares, contributed to the realization of this plan, which provided them with the money they needed to travel.
The family's six-member world tour was due to begin in July 2020, and they had planned a grand itinerary that included traveling across Russia by road and spending time in China.
However, they were forced to delay their flight for two years due to travel restrictions caused by the global pandemic, and they re-routed their flight, which started in March 2022, due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The family's journey began in Namibia before heading to Zambia and then to Tanzania, then traveled to Turkey, Mongolia and Indonesia.
The trip is scheduled to end next March.