Boy's eyesight saved after he is prescribed daily dose of Nintendo Super Mario game



A six-year-old boy who nearly went blind in one eye can now see again after he was told to play on a Nintendo games console.



Ben Michaels suffered from amblyopia, or severe lazy eye syndrome in his right eye from the age of four.



His vision had decreased gradually in one eye and without treatment his sight loss could have become permanent.

Ben, 6, played on a Nintendo DS console for two hours a day while wearing an eye patch. The treatment helped his lazy eye

His GP referred him to consultant Ken Nischal who prescribed the unusual daily therapy.

Ben, from Billericay, Essex, spends two hours a day playing Mario Kart on a Nintendo DS with his twin Jake. Ben wears a patch over his good eye to make his lazy one work harder.

The twins' mother, Maxine, 36, said that from being 'nearly blind' in the eye, Ben's vision had 'improved 250 per cent' in the first week.



She said: 'When he started he could not identify our faces with his weak eye. Now he can read with it although he is still a way off where he ought to be.



'He was very cooperative with the patch, it had phenomenal effect and we’re very pleased.'



Mr Nischal of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, said the therapy helped children with weak eyesight because computer games encourage repetitive eye movement, which trains the eye to focus correctly.

'A games console is something children can relate to. It allows us to deliver treatment quicker,' he said.



'What we don’t know is whether improvement is solely because of improved compliance, ie the child sticks with the patch more, or whether there is a physiological improvement from perceptual visual learning.'



The consultant added that thousands of youngsters and adults could benefit from a similar treatment.