AN emotional Michael Owen has revealed his son’s eye condition has left him so blind he has to ‘cut his food for him’.
The former England footballer has four children with his wife Louise, including son James, 20.
James was diagnosed with Stargardt disease – a degeneration of his retina, and in 2019, Michael revealed his son was “clinically blind”.
During an appearance on the Great Company podcast this week, Michael, 46, opened up to Jamie Laing about James and his condition.
He said: “I look at it and think, do you know what, every time we sit at a restaurant, he’s by my side.
“Because I read him the menu and I need to cut his food, because he can’t.
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“Whenever we’re watching racing, he’s by my side because I’m giving a commentary.
“Whenever he wants to go…he needs his dad to take him. I’m his taxi driver.”
Michael continued: “I get to spend three times more time with my lad because he’s got an eye condition.
“Now I might be a selfish b*****d but I think that is…I love it and I wouldn’t want it any different.
“And of course I’d give my eyes to him in an instant, if we could swap, of course I would. But let’s take the positive, he is so bright, he just doesn’t sit back and pity himself.
“In fact it’s quite the opposite, he gets out there and he laughs at himself.”
While Michael is clearly proud of James and his other children, daughters Gemma, Jessica and Emily, he also admitted on the podcast that he doesn’t tell them he loves them.
He said: “I never ever tell my kids I love them. I don’t say anything like that.
“I just assume my actions would show them that I love them. It’s a bad thing. I think most of us are like that.”