Watch: Beautiful Moment Pope Francis Blesses And Speaks With ALS Hero Bjorn Formosa
Malta’s most prominent ALS activist Bjorn Formosa met with Pope Francis during his visit to Malta.
“I asked him to bless our two homes in Qormi and Żebbuġ, the residents and all those who work there. A beautiful experience with the Pope this morning along with a few patients from ALS Malta,” Formosa said as he shared images from the meeting.
The Pope can be seen standing up before heading towards Formosa, Maria and other members from ALS Malta. However, the Pope doesn’t just greet Formosa and walk off, but speaks to him at length.
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Speaking right after his Papal meeting, an emotional Bjorn and Maria expressed their gratitude for the holy moment.
“It’s something indescribable – when I was in front of him, I could barely speak, it was too emotional,” Bjorn said.
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ALS – or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis – is a neurodegenerative neuromuscular disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. This often leads to complete loss of functions in ones limbs and muscles, to the point that they need constant assistance to survive.
ALS eventually causes paralysis and early death, usually from respiratory failure.
However, the reproductive system is not affected, with a number of high profile ALS patients, such as Stephen Hawking, having multiple children after being diagnosed.
Lovin Malta spent time behind the scenes to get a closer look at Formosa, Maria and ALS Malta’s hard work creating better lives for those living with ALS – watch A Little Smile below.
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