A mother, after discovering something strange in a photo of her daughter in the bath, claims it saved her life. Bronte Richards, from Abertillery, took a photo of her eight-month-old daughter Raye Vowles playing in the bath last month but accidentally used the flash.
A few weeks later, she admits to being relieved to have taken this photo, because the flash revealed a crucial clue which led to the diagnosis of a rare form of cancer in Raye’s eye. “Looking at the photo of my two children in the bath, I noticed that while my son had normal red pupils, Raye’s was red on the left but white on the right,” Bronte explained.
“My flash was accidentally on. And thank goodness! I took the photo again, and his right eye also turned out to be white. It didn’t show up in normal photos without flash. I looked online and it told me it could be related to the optic nerve or in rare cases a tumor. »
Bronte said she couldn’t get the photos out of her head and decided to take Raye to the doctor the next day. However, when she contacted her local doctor, she was told that her daughter seemed “fine” and that she should “monitor the situation”. “I was still worried, so I took Raye to Specsavers where they examined her eyes,” Bronte continued. “They said they couldn’t determine what it was without dilating his pupils, and so arranged an emergency appointment at the Royal Gwent Hospital. The doctor who saw her dilated her eyes and said she looked fine and that he could only see a tear in her optic nerve. I was still not reassured and they invited me to come back, and there they discovered three large tumors in his right eye. I couldn’t believe it. »
Raye was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a rare type of eye cancer that can affect young children. It affects the retina, at the back of the eye. The main symptoms, as Bronte discovered in her image, include a white glow or white reflection in the center of the eye or pupil. The NHS advises that it is possible to see it in a young child just by looking at the eye, but it may be more obvious in low light or in flash photos.
Retinoblastoma can usually be treated successfully if detected early. Treatment aims to eliminate the cancer, but there is a high risk that the child will lose some or all of their vision in the affected eye. If detected too late, the tumor could spread throughout the body.
-Bronte added: “After the diagnosis it was a whirlwind. We were sent straight to Birmingham Children’s Hospital where they discovered that a tumor was also growing in his left eye, but it is very small and not growing near the optic nerve. They need the chemotherapy to work quickly for this tumor. We were told it is likely she will be blind in her right eye after treatment. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy and if that doesn’t work, her right eye may need to be removed. »
Raye started chemotherapy on Wednesday and it will continue monthly for six months, after MRIs showed the cancer had remained isolated to her eyes and had not spread. “If I hadn’t noticed this when the photos were taken and insisted that it be adequately examined, the story would have been different,” Bronte said. “I want to warn others and explain how I discovered this, as she could have died if this had been neglected for too long. » A fundraising page was set up by a family friend to help Raye and her family cope with the financial burden caused by their frequent trips to the hospital. You can view the fundraising page here.
Bronte expressed his gratitude to Birmingham Children’s Hospital and the Noah’s Ark ward at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff for their valuable support. “Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Noah’s Ark are saving my child’s life. I will forever be amazed by the incredible work they do. »
Raye’s case raises many questions about parental vigilance and the importance of technologies, such as cameras, in the early detection of serious illnesses. As a society, how can we encourage increased awareness and timely medical visits in young children?
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