Greater Manchester teen with OCD turns cleaning into a job

3 years ago 48
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Image source, Dirt2CleanManchester

Image caption, Love Island's Molly-Mae Hague is among Zykiah's clients

A teenager diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) at 13 has turned his condition into a successful business washing cars for celebrities.

Zykiah, 15, decided to set up the company after his family bought him a car valeting kit for Christmas.

Two years on, Zykiah's clients include football pundit Gary Neville and social media influencer Molly-Mae Hague.

His mother Jo, from Greater Manchester, said she always knew he would turn his diagnosis into something positive.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast she said: "From a young age, he was constantly cleaning.

"I would buy him Hoovers, little cleaning kits when he was six, seven, eight. He was constantly cleaning.

"At 13 he got diagnosed with OCD and I said it's not an illness, he is going to turn it into something positive and that's what he has done."

Image source, Dirt2CleanManchester

Image caption, Zykiah now counts Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs as clients after setting up Dirt2Clean Manchester

Zykiah first started by cleaning the cars of family and friends at the weekend before asking if he could clean neighbours' cars.

Hours after posting in a local Facebook group about her son's love of car cleaning, a queue of cars had formed outside the family home.

"I realised it was something I really loved doing," Zykiah told BBC Breakfast.

"I thought I would start a business and I thought it would just be family and friends' cars at the weekends.

"It was mad. I got one famous car and it went from there."

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