EastEnders welcomed a powerful debut this week from five-year-old Harvey Hind. The deafblind actor is playing a pre-schooler named Arlo. And Arlo has joined a touching storyline with Lauren and Peter Beale. Arlo’s appearance was more than just a guest spot. It also gave a real-world perspective for the Beales. But the question is: Will someone cross a dangerous line for cash? Keep scrolling to learn more.
Arlo’s Big Moment In EastEnders
In the episode, Arlo arrived with his mum to meet the Beales after the reveal that their child Jimmy is blind. Arlo’s mum shared her own journey. She shared,” Harvey loves being in the spotlight. But for us, the most important things will always be raising awareness and breaking down barriers. Every disabled child gets the same opportunities as anyone else.”
In conversations with the charity Sense, Kimberly Hind shared, My wish is that through Harvey’s character in EastEnders, disabled children, in particular those who are deafblind, will realise that the possible is endless for them. For Kimberly, this is a really big thing. She stressed that it is quite wrong if disabled people are kept invisible.
Harvey really excelled during the filming, I cant express how proud I am of him. There were in fact four different cameras filming him. But he just effortlessly handled everything, Kimberly further explained. The young boy even featured in the Senses Christmas appeal. His sight loss was diagnosed when he was only three months old. Besides, he uses BSL to communicate while the cochlear implants enable him to hear.
“I was so anxious when I found out Harvey was deafblind, so his character’s storyline resonated with me a lot, explained Kimberly. Later in the episode, Lauren and Peter learn that it would require a large amount of cash for Jimmy’s treatment.
Jimmy’s Health Diagnosis
For those who don’t know, Jimmy has optic nerve chorioretinal coloboma. Also, it was revealed that it wasn’t caused by Lauren’s past painkiller addiction. And with the help of a genetic test, it was confirmed that this was a random mutation. And so to take care of the child, the couple met the mother of a deafblind child, Arlo, for advice.
In fact, to fund Jimmy’s expensive specialist care, Lauren also became a part of a criminal scheme. She began working with Mark Fowler at the car lot. However, Lauren learnt that Mark sources stolen high-end vehicles for her to sell.
In the recent episode, she asked Mark to stay away from her and her family. But she didn’t know that Max Branning had heard everything. For more EastEnders spoilers and updates, keep following Soap Opera Daily.