A five-year-old deafblind boy is set to make his acting debut in EastEnders, with his mother expressing hope that his appearance will "break down barriers" for disabled children.
Harvey Hind, from Clitheroe, Lancashire, will feature in Wednesday’s episode of the BBC One soap, portraying Arlo, a pre-school character who is registered blind. His mother, Kimberly, believes Harvey's role will inspire other disabled children, particularly those who are deafblind, to understand that "they can achieve anything."
"Harvey loves being in the spotlight but for us the most important thing will always be raising awareness and breaking down barriers so every disabled child gets the same opportunities as anyone else," Kimberly stated. She added that Harvey "did amazingly at the filming," taking the presence of "four cameras on him" in his stride.
In the upcoming episode, Arlo and his mother visit Lauren Branning and Peter Beale’s home, where Arlo plays with Jimmy, Lauren’s son, who was revealed to be blind in a storyline last year. Arlo’s mother offers Lauren advice on raising a blind child.
Harvey was diagnosed as blind at three months old after failing his newborn hearing test and his mother noticing an eye flicker around four weeks of age. He communicates using British Sign Language (BSL) and a red-and-white striped cane, commonly used by deafblind individuals, and also wears cochlear implants to access sound.
Kimberly described the first two years of Harvey’s life as challenging, struggling to communicate with her son and eventually leaving work when he became distressed at a mainstream nursery. Support from the disability charity Sense, which assigned a specialist to the family, proved "lifesaving" for her.
"I was so anxious when I found out Harvey was deafblind, so his character’s storyline resonated with me a lot. I didn’t have any experience with disability and I kept imagining the worst-case scenarios," she explained. "Luckily, with the support of organisations like Sense, Harvey is now a really happy child who is eager to learn, loves exploring and has a cheeky personality."
Harvey has previously appeared in Sense’s 2025 Christmas appeal and on television news features highlighting the struggles faced by disabled children in education.
The episode of EastEnders starring Harvey will air on BBC One at 7.30pm on Wednesday.
