Michael Owen: I would swap eyes with my son if I could

Michael Owen has opened up on his heartache over his son’s incurable eye condition, saying he wishes he could “swap eyes” with the teenager.

James Owen’s dreams of following in his father’s Premier League footsteps were dashed as he was diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition aged eight.

Stargardt is a rare genetic condition that occurs when fatty material builds up on the macula, the small part of the retina needed for sharp, central vision.

The former England, Liverpool and Manchester United striker describes in a documentary the “hammer blow” of realising his son was losing his vision.

“If I could give him my eyes ... I would,” said Owen, 44, speaking on the BBC Access All podcast ahead of the Football Is For Everyone programme on TNT Sports and Discovery Plus. “I would pay every cent I’ve got to make James see again.”

Owen and his son once hoped to continue a famous family dynasty of footballers. James’s grandfather Terry Owen played at Everton in 1966.

The family described how James had inherited his Ballon d’Or-winning father’s football talents with the ball at his feet, but he often failed to track player movements.

Owen Snr described how it then came as a “hammer blow” when he and wife Louise were referred to an eye specialist and James was diagnosed.

James explained on the podcast that his “central vision is blurry” and “I struggle with seeing different colours and different lights” although he has “good peripheral vision”.

His footballer-turned-pundit father says he now feels parental guilt. “As a parent you just want everything to be perfect – and he is – but of course it was a sad time,” he said.

“Thinking about the future – will he be able to drive? Will he be able to work? All these things run through your mind.”

Procedures and tests on James’s condition over the years were also hard to watch. “You’re pushing your son forward to get something you know is going to be painful,” he said. “It’s just horrible to see. You want to take all the pain away.”

However, the family has found “time is a great healer” as James has come to terms with the condition. “He’s just mentally very strong,” explained Owen, who also played for Real Madrid. “He’s got a great mindset. I’ve got four children and I’m probably the least worried about James’s future.”

In the documentary, released on Jan 30, Owen and his son follow the visually impaired futsal England squad as they compete in the 2023 visually impaired world cup hosted in Birmingham.