Moana and Leilani are two sisters, born two years apart, who have more in common than you would think. Both were born with a rare genetic condition, Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis, which causes blindness from birth. Moana has light perception, while Leilani has some functional vision but doesn’t see in 3D.

Moana loves to sing and play the piano, while Leilani loves to play dress-ups and dance!

Moana and Leilani’s parents can still recall the feelings of shock and devastation as each girl’s diagnosis was given when the girls were very young, especially when the doctors told them that there was no treatment available.

However, years later after receiving an email from a friend, Moana and Leilani’s parents have discovered that there is treatment available, just not in Australia!

Although there are no guarantees, the stem cell treatment being offered in China by Beike Biotechnology, has given other blind patients improved vision and now invites Moana and Leilani to come over.

Moana and Leilani will stay at Qingdao Chengyang People’s Hospital where they will receive a stem cell treatment of six injections over a four week period. The stem cells used in the treatment are taken from umbilical cord blood that has been donated by mothers that would otherwise be discarded. Each standard treatment comes at a quoted cost of $33 000 ** per child. So, to fly the family to China so that both Moana and Leilani can receive the available treatment, the family is busily fundraising to give the girls a FLIGHT for SIGHT!

 Moana often asks, “What is it like to see?” Moana’s parents hope that if the treatment is successful both Moana and Leilani will more fully know for themselves the answer to such a question.

If you would like to help Moana and Leilani on their FLIGHT for SIGHT you can check out the upcoming fundraising events, donate or contact us with your ideas.

7 News story