Born three and a half months prematurely, Derek Paravicini miraculously
survived, but his twin sister did not. Technically, he died three times in
the hospital and his eyesight was destroyed by an oxygen overdose. He
has been left completely blind, partly autistic, can’t tell left from right and
cannot count to ten, but despite his disabilities he has an incredibly acute
sense of hearing, and is a musical genius.
Now 26 years old, Derek has the I.Q. of a 4 year old. His family had little
hope that Derek would ever be able to communicate meaningfully, until
at the age of two something extraordinary happened! At home with his
mother, Mary Ann Hanbury, Derek sat at the piano playing a tune. Soon
after this Derek was taken to a school for the blind.
At the school there was a piano lesson going on, Derek broke free from
his mother and ran straight towards the piano, as if he could see, and
pushed the little girl, who was having the piano lesson, out of the way
and started to play.
