THIS is the face of a delighted African boy whose sight was restored thanks to a nurse and Worcester News readers.

Dowda Sonka, aged 13, who was blinded by a snake can now see again thanks to money raised after Rosemary Henman appealed for your help.

Mrs Henman, of Hallow, near Worcester, has just returned from Dowda’s village in the Gambia, where she was given a hero’s welcome by villagers. She presented the overjoyed boy with a cuttings book which included articles from your Worcester News.

Mrs Henman said: “He was feeling great. He can sleep, he can close his eyes and his vision has improved. He can see now.”

Mrs Henman first spotted Dowda while she was on holiday in the Gambia.

He had a seriously disfigured face and was blind in his right eye and partially sighted in his left eye after being spat at by a snake when he was nine.

With the help of readers of your Worceser News, Mrs Henman raised £3,000 to pay for Dowda to travel with his mother to Ghana where plastic surgeons carried out several reconstructive operations in March.

Mrs Henman then travelled to Dowda’s village to see how the teenager was getting on. She said: “Dowda gave me a bag of cashew nuts and three mangos and all the elders said a prayer for my life.”

“I gave him a book with the whole story and cuttings from the paper.

“He was overwhelmed because the whole village came out and it was a big celebration. They cooked us a meal and could not thank us enough.”

After Dowda’s surgery there was some money left from fund-raising and Mrs Henman has used this to buy him a school uniform and pay for his fees.

It is hoped he can start school again next month.

“He has not been to school because of what happened so that is what we are trying to focus on,” Mrs Henman said.