Minnesota family cares for daughters with rare fatal disease EDIE SCHMIERBACH, Mankato Free Press May 7, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail ST. PETER, Minn. (AP) — On a warm afternoon in late March 2020, Ali Abdi and one of his young daughters, Maryam, sat outside their rental home observing the neighborhood along a St. Peter street they’d moved to only days earlier. He hoped fresh air and sunshine would help relieve the fatigue that had built up after long hours of helping care for his three girls, all who have been diagnosed with a fatal form of the genetic disease leukodystrophy. One problem weighing on his mind: The need for a bathroom large enough for his wife, Fartun, and him to provide personal hygiene care for their invalid children. Ali was treated to a temporary distraction from his worries that day when he spotted a happy-go-lucky pooch ambling down the sidewalk ahead of her owner.