Boy and dog feature in special Beano edition

A seven-year-old boy and his support dog have starred in a special edition of The Beano written for visually-impaired children.

Alex McQueen, from Sutton Coldfield, and golden retriever Chance featured in Beano Presents – A Buddy For Life, which published on Wednesday.

The comic teamed up with charity Guide Dogs to create the edition, which included a character visiting the Guide Dogs centre in Bishop's Tachbrook, Warwickshire.

Alex's mum Lindsey said: “For him, he feels like it is all really good fun and 'there's me and Chance and we're in this cartoon and it's great'.”

Alex has had Chance as his buddy dog for two years after he was left with bilateral optic atrophy - damage to the optic nerve - following a bout of meningitis when he was three weeks old.

Mrs McQueen said he has reduced sharpness in his vision, struggles to see certain colours and has no peripheral vision in his right eye, among other symptoms.

He also has developmental delay with his speech, and his brother Ross, nine, voiced Alex on the audio version of the comic.

Alex was paired up with Chance with help from the charity, who Mrs McQueen said had been “wonderful”.

Having previously been anxious around dogs, Mrs McQueen said Alex now regularly seeks out Chance for cuddles.

"(Chance) has got the most beautiful temperament in the world, he is just so lovely," she added.

The comic's storyline featured Erbert, one of the Bash Street Kids, discussing his recent sight-loss diagnosis with friends and making a visit to the Guide Dogs National Centre.

Alex was one of a number of visually-impaired young people who have been included in the edition.

Craig Graham, editorial director at Beano Studios, said it was important to raise awareness about the impact it can have on children.

"At Beano, it's important to us to reflect kids' experiences and help them navigate life with the fun and mischief that all kids should get to enjoy,” he said.

Alex Pepper, head of accessibility at Guide Dogs, said the partnership would help children learn more about visual impairment.

"With Erbert opening up about his visual impairment to the Bash Street Kids for the very first time, we hope to encourage people to feel more comfortable sharing their sight-loss experience,” he added.

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