Dan Fingland, left, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, gets treated to a “sight visit” tour of the Grand Canyon by Visual Experience Foundation founder Michael Benson, right, on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. (Jason Bean/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Dan Fingland, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, takes in the view while on a “sight visit” tour of the Grand Canyon by the Visual Experience Foundation on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. (Jason Bean/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Dan Fingland, right, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, gets treated to a “sight visit” tour of the Grand Canyon by Visual Experience Foundation founder Michael Benson, left, on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. (Jason Bean/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Dan Fingland, 22, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, gets treated to a “sight visit” helicopter tour of Lake Mead and the Grand Canyon by the Visual Experience Foundation on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. (Jason Bean/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Dan Fingland, right, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, gets treated to a “sight visit” helicopter tour of Lake Mead and the Grand Canyon by Visual Experience Foundation founder Michael Benson, left, on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. (Jason Bean/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Dan Fingland, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, gets treated to a “sight visit” helicopter tour of Lake Mead and the Grand Canyon by the Visual Experience Foundation on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. (Jason Bean/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Dan Fingland, 22, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, gets out of the helicopter while being treated to a “sight visit” of Lake Mead and the Grand Canyon by the Visual Experience Foundation on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. (Jason Bean/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Dan Fingland, left, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, gets treated to a “sight visit” tour of the Grand Canyon by Visual Experience Foundation founder Michael Benson, right, on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. (Jason Bean/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Dan Fingland, left, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, gets treated to a “sight visit” tour of the Grand Canyon by Visual Experience Foundation founder Michael Benson, right, on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. (Jason Bean/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Dan Fingland, left, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, gets treated to a “sight visit” tour of the Grand Canyon by Visual Experience Foundation founder Michael Benson, right, on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. (Jason Bean/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Dan Fingland, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, takes in the view while on a “sight visit” tour of the Grand Canyon by the Visual Experience Foundation on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. (Jason Bean/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Dan Fingland, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, takes in the view while on a “sight visit” helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon by the Visual Experience Foundation on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. (Jason Bean/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Dan Fingland, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, takes in the view while on a “sight visit” helicopter tour of Lake Mead and the Grand Canyon by the Visual Experience Foundation on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. (Jason Bean/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Dan Fingland, who suffers from retinitis pigmentosa, takes in the view while on a “sight visit” helicopter tour of Lake Mead and the Grand Canyon by the Visual Experience Foundation on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2014. (Jason Bean/Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Imagine you are 16 and the doctors tell you that you’re slowly going blind. That you have retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease that inevitably causes severe vision impairment and that there is nothing they can do about it. What would you do?
For Dan Fingland, now 22, the answer is to see all that he can before it is too late, especially the Grand Canyon. On Wednesday, the nonprofit organization Visual Experience Foundation treated Fingland to a “sight visit” of his dream destination.
The foundation was created by Michael Benson, who himself has battled glaucoma since he was born. His stated mission is to provide visual experiences to those who have been diagnosed with unstoppable vision loss.
With the help of Sundance Helicopters, the two men shared spectacular views of Lake Mead, Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon overlooking the Colorado River.
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