Meet Australia's Bravest Little Boy!

Born with no eyes, Leo is a special ‘one-in-four-million’ child

- Josie Agostino

When Lauren and Josh Hall welcomed their baby boy Leo into the world two years ago, they thought all their dreams had come true.

As they cherished their first cuddle on June 11, 2017, the Melbourne couple’s bundle of joy seemed a happy, healthy 4.3kg of perfection. But as Lauren and Josh looked down, eagerly awaiting the moment when Leo would open his eyes and take his first look at his mummy and daddy, their smiles began to fade. Minutes turned to hours, and that precious moment never came.

“When I asked why he hadn’t opened his eyes yet, the doctors told me he was still very swollen and that it would take time,” Lauren tells Woman’s Day, adding that Leo was a large baby and needed forceps to be delivered.

The 27-year-old new mum didn’t question it further and stayed overnight in the Melbourne hospital so staff could monitor Leo, who had low blood sugar levels.

At just 48 hours old, Leo still hadn’t flickered his eyelids when he was awake or sleeping, and his worried parents became desperate for answers.

“I was adamant something was wrong,” Lauren recalls. “I told the doctors, ‘It’s as though he doesn’t have eyes.’”

Doctors unsuccessfully tried to gently lift the skin over Leo’s tiny eye sockets, so he was sent for an MRI scan. The results shocked Lauren and Josh to the core.