Former Manchester United striker Michael Owen has revealed the emotional impact of his son James Owen’s diagnosis with Stargardt, telling a new Amazon series that he repeatedly broke down in tears after receiving the news.
Owen, who also represented Liverpool, Newcastle United and England during his playing career, discusses his family’s experience in the new series, Meet the Owens.
According to The Daily Mirror, the programme offers an insight into the former United forward’s private life with his wife Louise and their four children.
James Owen’s Stargardt diagnosis
The programme reveals that James, 20, has Stargardt, a rare inherited eye disorder which causes progressive loss of central vision. Its effects often begin during childhood or adolescence and can include blurry, hazy or distorted vision.
Speaking on the Amazon programme, Owen recalled his huge emotional reaction as he attempted to process what the diagnosis could mean for his son’s future.
“When he first got diagnosed, I remember stopping in the car, three or four times, and just bursting out crying, thinking, ‘What’s his life going to be like?’”, Owen said. “I just wanted him to not feel sorry for himself, wanted him to have a positive outlook on life.”
James describes the condition in the series as being “like a ticking timebomb”, according to the report, while acknowledging that he could become fully blind in the future.
Owen also explains that James’ health prevented him from pursuing the footballing path his father had once imagined for him.
“Most people who play football have the dream of their son following in their footsteps,” he said. “That’s what my dad had with me. I wanted James to be a footballer when he was really young but obviously that dream was dashed quite early.”
Owen discusses feelings of guilt
Owen admits in the series that he experienced guilt because Stargardt is inherited, although he says focusing on the positive aspects of James’ life has helped those feelings to recede.
“We made James, and I don’t think I’d be normal if I didn’t put myself in the mirror and think, ‘It’s down to us that he’s got this eye condition’ so I did feel guilty for a little while and could say I still feel guilty now, but you look at the positives with him and the guilt sort of evaporates,” he said.
The programme also covers other areas of Owen’s life away from his family, including his work at Manor House Stables, where he trains and races horses.
Owen says that he has invested between £13 million and £14 million in the stables while seeking to establish the operation as one of the industry’s most successful.
However, the former striker also acknowledges the financial risks involved. He says he cannot continue “haemorrhaging” money through the venture.
In one scene cited by the newspaper, Owen tells Louise that he had bought three horses for £273,000, joking that plans for a new kitchen would have to be postponed.
A more personal portrait
The series additionally addresses Owen’s public reputation and some of the anecdotes from his career that have attracted attention online.
Yet its most personal element is his account of James’ diagnosis, the effect it had upon the family and his determination that his son should retain a positive outlook.
For United supporters who remember Owen’s time at Old Trafford, the programme presents a markedly different side of the former forward from the player seen during his professional career.
