Gemma Owen became 'protective' after brother was diagnosed with rare eye disease

23 October 2023 , 12:58

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Gemma Owen became 'protective' after brother was diagnosed with rare eye disease

Love Island's Gemma Owen revealed she became 'protective' over her brother James after he was diagnosed with a rare eye disease.

A few years ago, footballer Michael Owen confirmed his son was diagnosed with Stargardt disease – which, according to the NHS, is a "rare inherited condition causing loss of central vision". According to the National Eye Institute, vision loss usually starts in childhood — but some people with Stargardt disease don't start to lose their vision until they're adults.

James first realised something was wrong when he struggled to see the whiteboard at school. Appearing on Monday's edition of Loose Women, Gemma and her brother discussed what it was like for him growing up and how the family navigated the difficult diagnosis.

Gemma said: "I think at the start it was it was a little bit of a struggle, you know, for the family and for James. I think he had quite a few of his early school years, you know, being quite frustrated and finding work challenging but I think he's sort of really sort of got the grips with it and embracing it now."

Gemma became 'protective' over her little brother (ITV)

When asked whether she felt protective, Gemma added: "I am the protective big sister and seeing his mates sort of having fun and games with him a little bit, I did get protective sometimes." Their mum, Louise, was in the audience and admitted she didn't cope very well with the diagnosis.

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"To begin with, my husband's [Michael Owen] very optimistic. The glass is half always half full," she explained. "But for me, the thought of there not being any treatment at the moment or any cure was quite hard to deal with and also knowing that progressively the condition was going to get worse."

Gemma said she had to step in as support as her mum wasn't 'strong' about the situation. "I think my mum as any mum would be, I think she found it very emotional. And she, you know, when James came back from school and had a bad day. I think she just got upset. She got emotional and she wasn't really, you know, that strong sort of figure.

"So that's where I sort of tried my best to step in and sort of be there for him and sort of, you know, look at everything logically and try and work through it."

In 2019, former footballer Michael opened up about his son' condition during a chat with The Times. He said: "He will never be a footballer. My son's got an eye condition. I've never said this. I don't want a big headline. Clinically, he's blind. He's got Stargardt disease, a degeneration of his retina. I used to go and watch him and b*****k him about his positioning."

"He can't see the ball until it's five yards away. As much as every father wants their son to play, it is almost a relief to me," he added at the time.

Zara Woodcock