On 19 January 2009 one of the most remarkable human beings who ever lived lost his battle with cancer. This 16-year-old boy taught himself the art of echolocation – and subsequently learnt to see with his ears. This is the story of Ben Underwood, aka the Dolphin Boy.

A master at video games, fearless on skates and an excellent shot at basketball, Ben Underwood was a regular teenager – except for the fact that he was completely blind in both eyes.

To help him “see”, Ben made clicking sounds that would bounce off objects around him, and in this way, he was able to determine where things were, how big they were and often exactly what they were.

Ben was just two years old when he lost both his eyes to bilateral retinoblastoma (cancer in both eyes). This is an infantile cancer that affects only six a million children. If not treated quickly, sufferers will die. Fortunately for Ben though, his mother, Aquanetta Underwood, detected the cancer early and made the life-saving decision to remove both her son’s eyes.

Aquanetta recalls when Ben woke up from his surgery. He said, “Mom I can’t see anymore. Oh mom, I can’t see.”

At that moment, Aquanetta remembered a friend’s words of wisdom: don’t let him feel your fears! So Aquanetta whispered to Ben, “Yes, you can see.”

She took his little hands and put them on her face and said, “See me! You can see me with your hands.” Next, she put her hand to his nose and said, “Smell me! You can see me with your nose.” Then she said, “Hear me! You can see me with your ears. You can’t use your eyes anymore, but you have your hands, your nose and your ears.”

A year after the operation Ben started to see with his ears. Aquanetta was driving through the city one afternoon with Ben strapped in his car seat at the back when he suddenly pointed to a large building and said, “Mama, can you see that huge building?”

Shocked, Aquanetta replied, “Ben can you see that building?

Ben explained to his mom that when their car passed the buildings it sounded different to when it passed side streets. He’d worked out that the sound of the car had bounced off the building, using a technique called echolocation. This is the same technique used by dolphins to navigate the oceans.

Over the next 14 years, Ben mastered his secret power, and he undoubtedly became one of the best echolocators in the world, a talent so unique he was considered super human in a way.

With the development of Ben’s talent came fame. Ben first featured on the front page of the local newspapers, then in People magazine, then on both the Ellen and Oprah shows. He was even flown to Japan for a talk show.

Besides his appearances, Ben also wrote a science-fiction novel, kept up with all his schoolwork with a brail keyboard and inspired others to realise that anyone can accomplish anything, as long as they try.

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Perhaps the greatest thing that Ben possessed was his ability to “see” people from within. If he heard someone being negative towards someone else he’d say, “That’s what’s wrong with sighted people – they all look at and judge each other!”

Ben couldn’t judge based on looks, only on spirit – something of which he himself had bucket loads.

Sadly, the cancer that had stolen Ben’s eyes as a baby came back to claim something even greater – Ben’s life! On 19 January 2009 Ben died at home surrounded by his family.

RIP Dolphin Boy, our real-life superhero.