OLIVE BRANCH, Miss — A 7-year-old boy in Olive Branch with a blind eye is inspiring everyone around him to read.
Most days, you’ll find Jace Middlebrook searching bookshelves, high and low, for a good book.
“I mostly like fiction books, because they just have crazy and fun things,” Middlebrook said.
Middlebrook starts second grade August 1, but he’s reading on a fourth grade level.
“I was reading chapter books in kindergarten,” said Middlebrook. “The Jack and Annie books were my favorite.”
In first grade, Middlebrook read more books than he ever has. He finished 141 books in one school year, determined to complete his goal, no matter what. It’s not as easy as it seems, since he sees the world differently than most.
“When I was born, my parents noticed that I was completely blind with this eye… my left,” Middlebrook said.
It was something his parents did not see coming.
“It was a real shock,” Kwame Middlebrook, Jace's dad, said. “I get teary-eyed thinking about it now.”
At 2 months old, Jace was diagnosed with a rare medical condition that caused blindness in one eye. He’s had one corrective surgery, but it didn’t improve his vision.
“Once we found out about it, I told my wife, ‘When God takes away something, he gives him something else.’ I knew he was going to be fine,” Kwame Middlebrook said.
In fact, his son is excelling. Despite his sight, Jace is strengthening his mind.
“Only being able to see with one eye does not stop me,” Jace said. “Even my classmates said I was pretty smart.”
He’s reading so much that he won several awards in school. His hard work and determination makes his parents proud.
“I knew he was going to be fine." Kwame Middlebrook said. "I knew he would be great. I knew he would be a blessing.”
When things get hard, Jace remembers that others have worse problems.
“Some people are completely blind, so it's a blessing that only one of my eyes is blind,” he said. “It’s a blessing.”
It’s a blessing that makes him special, and it won’t ever stop him from achieving his goals or finishing his next book. His goal this school year is to read 300 books.