"I can do it!": Blind four-year-old Gavin steps off kerb by himself for the first time - video

A touching video captures the very first time a four-year-old blind boy uses his cane to step off a kerb.

Aided by the support of his mother, young Gavin Stevens - who suffers from a rare genetic defect which seriously impaired his vision at birth - wrestles with the enormity of the moment.

Tentatively inching closer to the kerb, Gavin says: "I can do it! I can do it!" in answer to his parent's words of encouragement.

Gavin, from California, taps his white cane on the road surface to test how high the kerb is.

And then, summoning up all his courage, Gavin takes his very own leap of faith.

Gavin suffers from Leber's Congenital Amaurosis, which has left him completely blind. He was diagnosed with the condition at four months. The degenerative disease affects just 150 people in the United States and there is no cure at present.

His mother, Jennifer, said how happy she was when he stepped off the kerb. "I was elated", she said. "I am so proud of him. When he does something new, I can't help but think of our little baby boy when we were told he was blind, and would wonder how his life would be.

"I would sit and hold him as a baby in my arms and mourn the loss of his vision, and cry for months."

She added how the the urge to help him during that first step was overwhelming. "I initially was holding his hand as I normally do, but he told me he wanted to do it himself. 

"So, I stepped back, and grabbed my phone to video him. Half way through, I wanted to run over and help him, but I knew that would do him no good."

Gavin has been using a cane since he started walking, at the age of two, but learning how to move independently and navigating steps is a new challenge for him.

But the determined four-year-old also learns braille and attends a Music Academy for the Blind in Los Angeles, where he studies the piano, ukelele and singing.

His mother and father, Troy, have an older son, Landon, who is sighted.

The family are raising money to fund medical research into his condition.

His mother added: "We mourned for his vision, but we didn’t lose focus of the big picture. Gavin is happy and healthy.

"Our hopes and dreams for him, is just like our older eight year old son, who is sighted - to be independent and happy."