Sooyoung Reveals Her Father’s Story and Struggle with Retinitis Pigmentosa on ‘Strong Heart’

Sooyoung Reveals Her Father’s Story and Struggle with Retinitis Pigmentosa on ‘Strong Heart’

On February 12th, SBS’s “Strong Heart” aired its season finale and second half of its Girls’ Generation special with all nine members of Girls’ Generation. This episode featured both fun and touching stories from Girls’ Generation’s members, who discussed their interactions with junior artists, Tiffany’s overwhelming love for the color pink, Hyoyeon’s obsession with the number 23, and Jessica, Yuri, and Yoona’s kiss scenes in “Wild Romance”, “Fashion King”, and “Love Rain”.

The episode ended with the last story ever told on this season of “Strong Heart”, which revolved around Sooyoung’s father and his work to combat retinitis pigmentosa. Sooyoung revealed that after her father was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, he started to research the disease, found that the majority of the information was written in English, and began translating the information. Thus began his activities in the eradication of blindness.

Sooyoung explained that her father still suffers from the disease, which is only progressing more slowly when compared to other patients. She said, “The problem is that funds for research are lacking, so I wanted to help him. But I’m not active on my own, and there’s also the company, so there were a lot of things to consider, and I think he wasn’t able to ask for my help without hesitation. After he found out not too long ago that there is a way to treat it, he officially requested help from our company, and about four of our members (translator’s note: Taeyeon, Tiffany, Sooyoung, and Seohyun) are currently active as ambassadors.”

In August of 2011, Sooyoung was involved in a car accident that left her with a minor injury and unable to perform in Girls’ Generation’s concert’s in Taiwan. She said, “There was a seminar he had to go to in Daejeon, and he asked me if i could come and say a few words, so I said that of course I would. So I was on my way there, but I got in a car accident. Through that accident, I fractured my tailbone, so I couldn’t attend our concert. The accident was a little serious. It made me think that it would have been nice if I could attend the event, and my dad wouldn’t feel so burdened. He was sorry about asking me for help already, so after that, the first thing I thought about was him worrying about this. And, just as I expected, he felt really sorry to me.”

Sooyoung also showed her appreciation to fans of Girls’ Generation who work to help those suffering from retinitis pigmentosa, saying, “International fans collected funds and sent them, and in Korea, our fanclub has their own volunteer group. Whenever there is an event, they do volunteer work, helping those who can’t see, so I would like to take this moment to say thank you all very much.”

Finally, Sooyoung gave a tearful message to her father: “When I was first learning to ride a bicycle, my dad gave me the nickname of ‘little hero’. But I’ve gotten so big now, I’m in the position where I can help him. He thinks I’ve become really big, but I’m still my dad’s youngest daughter and ‘little hero’. My ‘big hero’ is you, dad, so if a little hero and big hero cross, I think a bright world that you see with your heart will come about. I love you, dad.”

Check out this episode of “Strong Heart” below:

Sources: jamieee805@YouTube.com, soshified