A blind paperboy – who made national headlines after his story was featured in the Grimsby Telegraph – has been offered a free computer.

Adam Gray (13) took on a £6-a-week paper round so that he could save up to buy a special “talking” computer – like the one he uses at school.

The determined youngster has learned to identify houses on his round by the type of gate they have and the sound of the gravel on their drives.

Now the story has prompted Britain’s leading Braille software distributor, Nottingham-based Concept Systems, to buy him a £1,550 machine which Adam will be able to use for his homework. The National Blind Children’s Society has also offered to provide a printer and modem for Adam.

Telegraph reporter Dave Speck, who first broke the story, said he almost choked on a fishfinger while having his tea and watching the ITV evening news when he saw footage of Adam delivering papers in Cleethorpes.

“It was the shock of seeing my story, which for weeks had been scribbled down in the back of my notepad, being read with such prominence to millions of viewers by the likes of Alistair Stewart,” he said.

Writing a follow-up comment column in the Telegraph, Dave told how he rang Adam to see how he was coping with fame.

The youngster told him: “I didn’t know I would attract this much attention. I thought I would just be in the Telegraph and that would be it. I didn’t think I’d be on TV.”

Dave also confessed: “As a reporter, I thought I’d put my foot in it when I asked him how it felt to see himself on the box – but it turns out he can see the TV “perfectly” by hovering above it really close up and looking down.”

Adam suffers three-quarter blindness after being born with neurofibromatosis – a condition affecting nerves in his head – and a brain tumour.

This positive news story was not the first time Adam had featured in the Grimsby Telegraph. About two years ago, the paper reported Adam’s misery when some local children kept hiding and kicking his white stick and refused to play with him. His mother appealed for youngsters to be more considerate towards him and all children with disabilities.

Do you have a story for us?
Ring the HoldTheFrontPage newsdesk on
01332 291111 x6022, or to e-mail us now – click here