Story of VI: A Colorful World Out of Black & White

“You make me cry make me smile
Make me feel the love is true
You always stand by my side
I don’t want to say goodbye”
~Lyrics from the song “A Little Love”

With fingers furiously flying over the piano, Anna sings out this beautiful song that praises the greatness of mother’s love. At her age of 11, she doesn’t have any stage fright to perform the song in front of the camera and she wants to use this song to thank her parents…

Anna’s parents noticed she liked to squint her eyes since she was born for few month and didn’t know the cause until Anna was 7. After a blood test she was diagnosed with “Alstrom Syndrome”, a rare disease with only 3 cases in Hong Kong. This syndrome would make Anna completely blind around the age of 16, with other symptoms like photophobia, progressive loss of vision and hearing, obesity and diabetes. 

The shocking news shakes the world of Anna’s parents for a while, but they also think: “How could we be a good and positive life model to Anna, if we plunge into despair?” 

 
In fighting the symptoms of obesity and diabetes, they controlled Anna’s diet when she was young and arranged her to join different activities, such as Judo and piano practice through HKSB, also let her take part in running and swimming. They wanted to make sure Anna enjoy and live in the moment as possible; for her progressive loss of vision, learning braille through HKSB Family Resource Centre for the Visually Impaired is one of the preparation, she also got trial to be with dog as pet. That’s everything the parents could do to prepare Anna for her life-long journey ahead.

 
There was a day with a splendid sunset. Anna’s mum captured in phone and switched it into black & white mode. It was easier for Anna, with colorblind, to watch it over phone with enlargement. “Mammy, I think the sunset looks beautiful too!” – It’s never the black & white in front of you to define how great your life could be.