WHEN William Willsher wakes up tomorrow, it will be the first Christmas he has seen.

The youngster, who has been plagued by cataracts for the past 18 months, is recovering from his second lens implant - surgery which has given him the gift of sight.

William, four, is believed to be the only child in the British Isles with his particular string of complications involving his ears, eyes, speech and throat muscles. The condition has no name.

William used to have to wear thick bifocal glasses to see, but now he can use normal spectacles.

His mother, Angela, said: "This is the first time he has been able to see the Christmas tree, the Christmas lights and people's windows lit up. He gets up now and says, 'Glasses mummy,' because he knows he can see.

"When he first had cataracts his eyes were so empty they were like black holes. Now he's got lenses he's got a sparkle there.

"It must be the reflection of the lens, but the twinkle is back. I know he can see me now."

William was born with a cyst in his chest which was pushing on his lung. It was removed when he was ten months old, but his health troubles continued.

Tests revealed problems with the muscles in his throat which meant he could choke on his food at any time. And at 18 months old he was found to be completely deaf, a problem gradually being corrected with special ear devices, and had a problem with his soft palate.

When he was two-and-a-half, Angela noticed white dots in his eyes and she and husband John were told William's sight had been destroyed.

She said: "He was like a blind person. He would pick up a toy, look straight ahead, feel the wheels, realise it was a car and start running it along the ground."

Since January 1998, William has had operations at Worthing Hospital to remove the cataracts, which kept returning.

On December 8 he had the lens in his left eye replaced, and the lens in his right eye was implanted last Wednesday.

His sight is still recovering but ultimately surgeons hope he will be able to use

contact lenses and glasses to read.

Angela said: "Compared with when he was floundering about in his thick old glasses, his eyesight is now brilliant. His speech has progressed too, because he's going to playschool and he copies other children's words.

"We're quite desperate to find a label for his condition, because if there are other children with this condition we can find out what the prognosis was going to be over the years."

William is preparing to start at St Anthony's, a school for children with special needs in Chichester, in January.

Angela, 41, who runs a dry cleaning business with John near their home in East Wittering, said: "He's coped with it brilliantly all the time, probably better than an adult.

"The nice thing is he's turned out like he has. He's not a whingey child, it's all a big adventure. He sits on the operating trolley and says, 'It's exciting mummy'.

"Having his lens done in time for the millennium is like a new start. It's renewed hope."

William said: "I have asked Father Christmas for a car. I can see now."

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