'The World's first deafblind James Bond': Clitheroe boy, 5, up for national award after Eastenders appearance

A five-year-old deafblind boy from the Ribble Valley is in the running for a national award after appearing in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders.

Harvey Hind from Clitheroe was registered both blind and deaf in the very first few months of his life.

Despite his difficult early years, Harvey is learning how to manage his disablities in ingenious ways, according to mum Kimberely, and this year he even secured a job on Eastenders.

Harvey’s appearance in the show is shortlisted for ‘Media Moment of the Year’ at the Sense Awards, run by national disability charity Sense.

The ‘Media Moment of the Year’ award recognises a powerful media moment that sparked conversation, challenged perceptions, or raised awareness about disability.

Sense says that Harvey’s appearance on EastEnders was a meaningful step towards more authentic representation of deafblind people on television, showing that disabled children belong on screen.

Harvey, a pupil at the Royal Cross Primary School in Preston, played Arlo on the soap, a pre-school boy who is registered blind.

His character is friends with Jimmy Beale, who was revealed to be blind in a storyline last year.

When he was around four weeks old, Harvey failed his newborn screening hearing test and at around the same time, his mum Kimberly noticed a flicker in his eye.

After struggling to get referrals, the family paid for a private consultation and Harvey was diagnosed as blind at three months old.

Mum Kimberly says the first two years of Harvey’s life were very difficult for her: she had to leave work as Harvey “really, really struggled” in mainstream nursery and she was unsure how to communicate with him.

A big turning point was finding the charity Sense, who assigned a specialist in working with deafblind children to the family, which Kimberly describes as ‘lifesaving’.

Now, Harvey uses a red-and-white cane to get around, wears cochlear implants to give him some access to sound and communicates using British Sign Language (BSL).

He learns BSL signs through a ‘hand-under-hand’- “he will feel your hands as you sign, and then he'll copy it” explained Kimberly.

Working with Sense helped Harvey secure the Eastenders gig and mum Kimberley says the expereience was “amzing” for them all, Harvey loving very minute on set.

She told the Post: “Places advertise as inclusive but when it actually comes to the crunch, they're not. For Eastenders, the BBC broke all those barriers down for us, and it cost them hundreds of pounds to do it.

Now, an award win for his Harvey’s work on the show would mean so much for the family.

Kimberly said: “Harvey is always advocating for all disabled children, and we are so proud of him. The journey has not always been easy, but we’ve gone from fighting for a future for Harvey to watching him build it.

“Harvey appearing in EastEnders was a huge moment to show what deafblind children can do with the right support and opportunities. I hope Harvey can inspire other disabled children to believe in their own potential and challenge any barrier that stands in their way.

“We always joke that maybe one day he'll become the world's first deafblind James Bond. Although if he does, I think Sense deserves a share of the credit, and I just hope he remembers us when he's walking the red carpet!

“It would mean so much to our family for Harvey to win this award. So please do go on the Sense website and spend five seconds voting for Harvey.”

People can vote in the ‘Media Moment of the Year’ page at https://www.sense.org.uk/get-involved/sense-awards/sense-awards-media-moment-2026/

Also shortlisted in the category are Sam Workman appearing on Love Island as a deaf man, Molly Chauhan becoming the first contestant to use a wheelchair on The Great British Bake Off and visually impaired author Beth O’Brien winning the Carnegie Medal for Writing.

Voting will close on Wednesdy, October 28.