A mother has said she hopes her five-year-old deafblind son will "break down barriers" for disabled children after starring in an episode of EastEnders.
Harvey Hind, from Clitheroe, Lancashire, made his acting debut during Wednesday's episode of the BBC One soap, playing Arlo, a pre-school boy who is registered blind.
His mother, Kimberly Hind, said: "I hope Harvey featuring in EastEnders shows other disabled children, especially those who are deafblind, that they can achieve anything.
"Harvey loves being in the spotlight, but for us, the most important thing will always be raising awareness and breaking down barriers so every disabled child gets the same opportunities as anyone else.
"Harvey did amazingly at the filming, I'm so proud of him. There were four cameras on him, but he took it all in his stride."
In the episode, Arlo and his mother visited Lauren Branning (played by Jacqueline Jossa) and Peter Beale's (played by Thomas Law) house, where Arlo played with Lauren's son, Jimmy, who was revealed to be blind in a storyline last year.
Arlo's mother gave Lauren advice on raising a blind child.
When he was around four weeks old, Harvey failed his newborn screening hearing test, and his mother noticed a flicker in his eye around the same time.
The family paid for a private consultation, and he was diagnosed as blind at three months old.
Harvey walks using a red-and-white striped cane, which is used by deafblind people, and uses British Sign Language (BSL) to communicate. He also wears cochlear implants that give him access to sound.
Ms Hind said she found the first two years of her son's life difficult, as she struggled to communicate with him.
She had to leave work to care for him, as he was becoming increasingly distressed attending a mainstream nursery.
The UK disability charity Sense eventually assigned a specialist in working with deafblind children to the family, which Ms Hind said was "lifesaving" for her.
She added: "I was so anxious when I found out Harvey was deafblind, so his character's storyline resonated with me a lot. I didn't have any experience with disability, and I kept imagining the worst-case scenarios.
"Luckily, with the support of organisations like Sense, Harvey is now a really happy child who is eager to learn, loves exploring, and has a cheeky personality."
Harvey has appeared in the charity's 2025 Christmas appeal and on TV news features about the struggles faced by disabled children in education.
Source: Press Association
