10-Year-Old Tears Up After Seeing His Mom’s Face For The First Time

When 10-year-old Benny Francey stared at his mom last Wednesday, something was different. He could see her face clearly for the first time, and it was enough to bring him to tears.

Benny is from Selkirk in Manitoba, Canada. He normally can’t perceive much more than silhouettes. He and his younger brother Ashton, 8, both live through a rare disease called Leber congenital amaurosis that affects their eyesight.

Their aunt Amanda Vitt, back in July, initiated a GoFundMe for the boys, with the aim of raising at least $15,000 U.S. for a pair of eSight glasses for Benny. Donations have already surpassed that goal.

The glasses have a small camera that picks up everything the user is looking at, then shows it on a powerful HD screen close to their eyes.

Benny finally got to try them on last week at a clinic in Toronto. “His first word was ‘wow,’” Benny’s mom, Jenna Cason, told CBC News. “It was very emotional.”

Vitt said the tears kept pouring when Cason showed Benny family photos. “He could finally point out people in the family.

In a video of his reaction, he teasingly told his mom she had a “big nose.” Whatever the size is, it was a detail he had never been able to see before.

Benny used Braille to read and write. Last week, he was able to see words on a piece of paper for the first time.

More importantly, the family was delighted to find out that the glasses actually worked for Benny as there was no assurance he would be able to see with them, Vitt said.

Currently, Benny is patiently waiting for his personalized glasses to be delivered at his home some time next month. He can’t wait to see his mom’s face again and begin surveying the world in a new way.

The rest of the money raised will assist in paying for curative horseback riding for Ashton. He has also been diagnosed with OCD and autism. His eyesight is so bad that the eSight glasses won’t help him. However, the family has left the GoFundMe campaign active to solicit more money for Ashton’s other needs.

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No Joint Patrols in South China Sea, Philippines Tells US

Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Friday that he informed the United States military that plans for joint patrols and naval maneuvers in the contested South China Sea have been suspended.

The defense chief also said once the Philippines secures surveillance drones in the near future, US troops involved in operating the intelligence-gathering devices against Muslim insurgents would be requested to leave the southern part of the country.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte also wants to end all military exercises that are conducted each year. He plans to scale back from what he believes as over dependence on the US.

Duterte’s relationship with the United States, the country’s longtime ally, has been shaky ever since he took office in June. He has been expressing in speeches his displeasure over the Obama administration’s comments on his bloody war against drugs. Now, he will be putting the relationship to test further by acting on his pronouncement to cut back cooperation with the US military in the Philippines.

The complicated period afflicting the relationship between the two countries cannot be denied. Nevertheless, Lorenzana believes that those ties would bounce back in due course.

Agreements with other allies unaffected

Duterte’s disagreements with Washington will not affect relations with other US allies. Japan, for example, has signed a deal to lease five small surveillance planes. Japan has also pledged to deliver patrol ships for the Philippine coast guard.

Lorenzana said the planes may arrive as early as next month and would boost the country’s territorial defense.

Duterte has reached out to Russia and China while holding a critical position on US security policies. Lorenzana said Duterte has ordered him to go to Moscow and Beijing. He plans to discuss what the Philippines can secure in terms of defense equipment.

 

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