Blind 10-Year-Old Training to Be Paralympic Boxer: 'I Call Him the Champ'

Archie Hayes demonstrates his boxing punches with his coach on 'This Morning' Credit: ITV/Youtube NEED TO KNOW Archie Hayes, born blind due to a rare retinal disease, began boxing after visiting his brother’s gym The 10-year-old's coach uses verbal commands and numbered combinations to teach him the sport Archie hopes to compete in the Paralympics one day A blind 10-year-old boy is training to be a boxer , using sounds and commands from his coach to help him navigate the ring, in hopes of becoming a Paralympic competitor. Archie Hayes was first introduced to the sport through his older brother, Josh, 15, a year and a half ago. Archie, who was born blind due to Leber's Congenital Amaurosis (LCA) , a rare disease that impacts the retina, said he was visiting his brother at the gym when "I got asked if I wanted to do it and I said, 'Yeah, I would like to do it,' " he told British talk show This Morning on March 30.

"He just always liked hearing the sound of the pads," Archie's father, Fred, told the show, sharing that they connected with boxing coach Andy O'Kane at Paddy John's Boxing Gym, in the English city of Bristol, to help train Archie. As Andy shared, "I'm passionate believer that boxing is really good for young men, young women. If I'm going to live up to that, then it shouldn't be an issue that he's blind.

So it's been good for me as a coach. " He's had to "learn to teach differently," Andy explained. "You can't just demonstrate the move.

You have to verbally describe it as accurately as you can and then try to help him move his body — and then, it's been trial and error ever since. " Archie, he says, memorizes the combinations "straight away," adding that training him is "the highlight of the week. " Each punch — a jab, an uppercut — is coded with numbers, which Andy calls out during their sessions.