Lancaster maths whizz raises money for NHS who saved his sight by doing GCSE at age of 11

Kyden Waite has undergone numerous operations to help him see since being born with bilateral congenital cataracts in his eyes.

He would have been left blind without the expertise of the NHS staff at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital.

Kyden, who lives in Galgate with mum Alina and dad Janik, has had eye surgery 15 times and spent much of his first years fighting for his sight.

During that time he developed many secondary complications, including glaucoma, which will need to be monitored for the rest of his life.

To this day he still visits Manchester Royal Eye Hospital for regular appointments.

But now Kyden has had an idea to help the NHS and say thank you to everyone who has helped him along the way.

He will be undertaking his EDEXCEL Higher GCSE in mathematics during the first week of November.

Kyden has shown an understanding of maths from a young age - and told his teachers he wanted to be a rocket scientist when he was just four.

And he is now able to combine his love of the subject with a fundraiser for NHS Charities Together.

Janik said: "He's had a rough time but most of it happened in his first four years of life so he doesn't remember a lot of it.

"He was born with congenital cataracts in both eyes so he wouldn't have developed any sight at all.

"We didn't know what to expect, we thought maybe laser eye surgery would work but unfortunately with babies that's not the case.

"At 10 weeks old he had to have the cataracts removed and artificial lens implants put in his eyes.

"But it went downhill from there and he ended up with all sorts of complications, including glaucoma."

Although Kyden's last surgery was four years ago, he continues to be regularly monitored and earlier this month was told his eyes are stable.

He has had a drainage implant inserted in the back of his eye, and the family have their own glaucoma monitoring equipment at home.

And although he is progressing well, if Kyden is outside, he always has to wear a hat and sunglasses, even on a cloudy day, as his operations have caused extreme sensitivity to light.

Kyden, who goes to Ellel St John’s Primary School, will sit three maths exams at the beginning of November at a test centre in Blackpool.

"Maths has always been a passion of his, and he just thrives on a good test," Janik said. "He is hoping to attain a grade 7-9, which is quite an achievement even for most 16-year-old students.

"He's completely relaxed about it, he has no sense of nerves or anything, I don't think he will be phased.

"We don't do maths at home with him; he is like most boys his age, he loves computer programming and technical lego.

"It's just the way his brain is wired, he has a very unusual understanding of maths for his age.

"When he was very young he just absolutely loved numbers.

"When he was four he told his teacher he wanted to be a rocket scientist.

"We encouraged it and by the time he was in Year 3 he definitely showed he was miles ahead of the other kids."

Kyden decided to try to raise money for NHS Charities Together at the same time as doing his exams.

"We talked about it and decided it would be nice to do some fundraising," Janik said.

"The first surgery alone that Kyden had would have cost tens of thousands of pounds."

If you want to support Kyden's appeal, go online here and you can also follow his progress here