Brown still fears he might lose his sight

Family photographs of a schoolboy Brown, now published for the first time, show a carefree but distinctly thoughtful youngster with his father and brothers in Scotland nearly 50 years ago.

In one, he is seen with older brother Andrew standing in front of a sports car owned by his father John's uncle, David.

In another, ten-year-old Brown poses proudly in the tuck shop he organised in a garage at his parents' home to raise funds for African refugees - a task which he remains committed to today as Chancellor, albeit with rather more resources at his disposal.

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But Brown's happy childhood came to an abrupt end when he was kicked in the head during an end-of-term rugby match against teachers at Kirkcaldy High School just before he left to attend Edinburgh University.

Within months, he was diagnosed with a detached retina and was lying in bed in a darkened hospital room unable to move or read.

After three failed operations, surgeons gave up the fight to save the sight in his left eye.

Not long afterwards, during a tennis match, he was aware of a problem in his right eye.

With Brown increasingly worried that he may be left completely blind, a doctor partially repaired the eye using pioneering laser treatment.

The Chancellor's close family have revealed how the fear of losing his sight at any moment has driven him on throughout his career.

And The Mail on Sunday has learned that Brown still lives in fear that a serious fall or sudden jolt could leave him blind.

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"A really bad knock could cause extremely serious damage," said one friend.

"He has to be very careful. Even when he works out or plays tennis he avoids being physically reckless."

The Chancellor's older brother John, a public relations executive, says the eye injury had a major effect on Brown's outlook on life.

"He was in more of a hurry; he feared he might lose his sight altogether. It was a bleak time."

Bob Cuddihy, a friend of Brown in his student days and now a television reporter, recalled: "Everybody was concerned about his eye. They would form a protective circle around him in the pub."

Brown's late father, a Presbyterian preacher and school chaplain, showed his desperate fears for his son in a sermon at St Brycedale Church at Kirkcaldy, where the family lived.

In the sermon, called 'Our Need of Vision', he said: "Blindness is surely one of life's sorest handicaps. Those who are deprived of sight miss much.

"They cannot gaze with wonder on hills and wayside flowers or crops growing in the fields...stars twinkling in the heavens...waves lapping on the shores."

Brown excelled at school and was fast-tracked to university aged 16.

But even at the age of ten, he had been interested in politics and helping the poor.

And so he organised a tuck shop in the garage at his parents' home.

With older brother John, and younger brother Andrew sporting a large kiss curl, the future PM posed for the camera with other pupils from his school as they raised money for Africa.

Before he was a teenager, Brown showed early signs of wanting to tell people how to run their lives.

He produced a children's newspaper which warned of the dangers of smoking and alcohol.

In 1953, aged two, Brown proudly posed with his big brother John in front of an Austin A40, made by British car firm Jensen, during a visit to a farm in Dunfermline run by their dad's uncle, David.

The car was an object of intense curiosity for the Brown boys. Britain was still in the grip of post-war austerity. Their father, who earned a meagre salary, did not own one. The Austin A40 convertible was one of only 4,011 ever made.

With a top speed of 78mph, Uncle David would have been able to take his nephew's sons out for a ride in the Scottish countryside.

The Chancellor might cast an envious glance at such a car even today. Like his father, he does not own one. Not because he can't afford it, but because his eyesight is too weak for him to drive.