Christopher Duffley, a 13-year-old YouTube sensation who is blind and has autism, is wrapping up an action-packed summer filled with typical teen activities: making music, going to camp, hanging out with friends and an unexpected trip to the emergency room. For this popular entertainer, however, the music happened on some of the biggest festival stages of the summer, the camp occurred at Boston’s prestigious Perkins School, the friends happen to be some of the biggest names in Christian entertainment, and the trip the hospital involved surgery for a bout of appendicitis.
In addition to sharing the stage with Grammy nominated singer/songwriter Paul Colman and hanging out backstage with Dove Award winner Matt Maher, Duffley was also a featured guest on a special Kingdom Bound live WDCX radio broadcast along with internationally known evangelist and motivational speaker Nick Vujicic, who was born without limbs.
When Duffley wasn’t at festivals, he was participating in a variety of other activities, including Music and Broadcasting Week at Perkins School, a Boston-area school for the blind. While at Perkins, Duffley co-hosted a radio program and wrote a song with other campers.
Before the summer was over, like many active boys Duffley’s age, he ended up with a trip to the emergency room. His trip, however, had nothing to do with broken bones or an accident; Duffley had emergency surgery for appendicitis.
Duffley, who currently is traveling to promote his CD, Eyes Of My Heart, has been featured in recent months in both the Huffington Post and The Blaze. The YouTube video of his performance of “Open the Eyes of My Heart” has garnered more than 7 million views, and he has performed on numerous media outlets and concert stages, as well as for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.