The Last Alaskans: Arctic Refuge is now back on our screens to take us through the reality of families living within national wildlife.
Set in Alaska, Animal Planet follows the daily rituals of four families living in isolation among thousands of native animals.The show highlights life in the state, years after the US government banned human occupation in the refuge in 1980. And now only residents living in seven permitted cabins are allowed to remain there.
The recent episode shown involved Ray Lewis and his daughters hunting for meat to eat. However fans are now curious about the reason behind the droopy eyes of Ray’s wife Cindy and their daughters Molly, Emma and Sarah. So what is the eye condition? Read on to find out more about their genetics.
What condition does Cindy Lewis and daughters have?
Molly, Emma and Sarah all have the BPEI syndrome, which is considered a rare condition.
People living with this condition have a narrow eye opening, droopy eyelids, an upward fold of the skin of the lower eyelid near the eye’s inner corner, and a significant distance between the inner eye corners.
According to rarediseases.org, it can cause difficulty in opening the eyes fully and may affect quality of vision. Their mother Cindy passed on the genetic condition to her daughters, having been born with it herself. It has been reported that the risk of passing the gene from a parent is 50% for each pregnancy.
Molly responded to fans questioning their eyes in a Q&A when the show first aired:
I’m sorry if it looks weird to some of you, but that’s your problem. Most of you all have “normal” eyes so why does it matter to you so much? Don’t you have anything better to do with your lives than worry about others’?
The Lewis daughters all grew up in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Their father was a Michigan native, had left behind his roots and fully taken on life in Alaska. The family were later seen building a houseboat on the show, which meant they ended up spending less time in the refuge and more time in the houseboat.
They became a firm favourite with viewers, and were seen in Season 1 and 2. However they were not brought back for Season 3. This was reportedly because of their increased time spent on the houseboat, while the show is focused on the Arctic refuge.
Where is the Lewis family now?
While Ray and Cindy Lewis are now believed to be living on their houseboat with the youngest daughter Sarah, their other daughters have moved on to start their own lives – however they’ve not strayed too far from the nature of their upbringing.
Molly, the oldest sister, has brought her roots into her career and is now a wilderness guide in Oregon, and the second oldest daughter Emma is training sled dogs away from home.
THE LAST ALASKANS:Is Season 5 cancelled? Ashley Selden reveals Discovery ‘shelved’ the show!
Molly, Emma, and Sarah all suffer from a genetic condition called Blepharophimosis, ptosis, epicanthus inversus syndrome (or BPES). Cindy was born with the condition — whose symptoms including "droopy" eyelids and abnormal growth of the eye's opening — and passed it along to her daughters.
Ray and Cindy are now living on that boat full time, and as for the girls, they've also begun charting their own paths. Sarah, the youngest, is still living with mom and dad on their floating abode, while oldest sister Molly has found work in Oregon as a wilderness guide.
As original members have passed on (“Mom” Lewis died in 2003, “Pop” Lewis died in 2004, and Wallace Lewis died in 2007) or retired due to illness (Polly was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 2005), the Lewis Family disbanded in 2009. Several offshoots quickly developed to keep the legacy alive.
Tragedy. Heimo and Edna's daughter Coleen tragically died in 1984 at two years of age. The family was traveling downriver by canoe to the home cabin to get food when they hit a sweeper (a down tree in the water) and overturned. Coleen drifted downriver and was never found again.
He and his wife Edna are among the few permanent residents of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. They live along the Coleen River, just south of the Brooks Range, and move between cabins seasonally.
Lewis announced Wednesday that his oldest daughter, Diaymon, will handle the honors. Only five daughters have previously served as presenters, according to the Hall of Fame. "My presenter is someone that I trust with my legacy, even after I'm gone," Lewis said in an interview with the Hall of Fame website.
After working for some of the finest guides in the business, Charlie earned his Outfitters license in 2018, and founded Double Shovel Outfitters. Charlie strives to make every custom remote Arctic trips more than just bucket list events, but rather, real life touching experiences.
While the subjects themselves live in cabins, crew members lived in tents nearby, even in -50 degree weather. “Those cabins can't be used for commercial use. They would go in once or twice during the year for a communal meal, out of bonding and respect, but [the crew] had to stay outside.”
The Last Alaskans Season 4 is the final season of the reality television series that takes us through the daily lives and challenges faced by families living in one of the most remote places in the United States, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.
Roughly 40 years after the explorer's death, the Tennessee State Commission authorized a gravesite monument in Lewis' honor and exhumed his remains. The long-delayed medical examination was the only one that his corpse received.
The Lewis Family retired in 2009, following the deaths of “Mom” Pauline Lewis in 2003; Pop in 2004; and Wallace in 2007. Their final performance was held at the Lewis Family Pavilion in Lincolnton, Georgia in October 2009. In 2015 they were inducted into the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame.
The Last Alaskans TV show consists of families that make their money from hunting and selling fur. They use the trapline to trap animals like foxes, beavers, wolverines, and wolves, skin them, put them up, and dry them out.
Both as a guide and a resident, Alaska flying has been a central part of his life. After working for some of the finest guides in the business, Charlie earned his Outfitters license in 2018, and founded Double Shovel Outfitters.
The Last Alaskan family lost feisty Bob Harte in July 2017, and his death is still reverberating among those devoted to the Discovery series. The Last Alaskan features the few people who are legally entitled to live, trap and hunt in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a protected area home to thousands of animals.
"Growing up in Michigan, there are a lot of opportunities to have fun outside." While living in Clare County, Lewis learned how to hunt, fish and trap. By the time he graduated from high school, he knew he wanted to move to Alaska. "Alaska was a bigger backyard to play in," Lewis said.
The Last Alaskans is insanely real – nothing is scripted and tweaked for higher dramatic effects. It is an extended meditation on Mother Nature, which can be both serene and cruel.
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