Surgery prevents boy from going blind

Katheriel Johnson, the 10-year-old Port Henderson Primary student whose grades had slipped drastically when he was not able to see the teacher's black board due to a tumour which was growing on his optic nerve, is full of hope that he can again excel at his school work.

"He is doing GSAT in 2019, so I know he will get back to his normal self by then. Because with all the problems he was going through, he managed to pass his Grade Four Literacy Test," Johnson's mother, Kasey-Ann Fuller, said.

Before his illness, Johnson was one of the high-achieving fourth grade students at Port Henderson Primary in Portmore, St Catherine. He was among the pupils whose pictures were posted on the school's notice board for scoring an average above 80 per cent on their end of year exams in 2016.

In April, when Fuller reached out to THE STAR to help raise funds to conduct the surgery to remove the tumour in Florida, US, Johnson was on the brink of dropping out of the elite student club at his school as his grades had fallen.

The tumour had blinded Johnson's left eye and was threatening to do the same to the right.

In a letter, doctors at the University Hospital of the West Indies said that if he doesn't immediately undergo surgery to correct the problem, he will lose his sight completely.

Thanks to the many STAR reader who responded by donating, Johnson is now recovering in Florida after successfully removing the tumour last week.

"I just want to say thanks to everyone who helped. Honestly to God, I'm so happy for him even though the eye is not 100 per cent yet," Fuller said.

"I want to thank God for touching their (the public who donated) hearts to let them help me with Katheriel, and may he continue to bless them. I am really grateful for the help."