When mum Julie Fitzgerald noticed a white glow over her son’s eye in photos, she thought nothing of it.
But after reading an article about a woman who discovered a family member’s cancer by looking through photographs and noticing a camera flash caused white eyes instead of red eyes she decided to investigate further.
“I did not want to take the picture because I had this dreaded feeling in the pit of my stomach, and I took the picture and boom,” Fitzgerald told WREX-TV. “His whole pupil was just white and that’s when I knew.”
Doctors confirmed Julie’s fears, explaining 75 percent of Avery’s eye was covered in tumours.
He was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a rare cancer that develops in the retina.
One of the indicators of the disease is a white colour in the pupil when light is shined in the eye.
When caught early, retinoblastoma is treatable. And, thanks to Julie’s quick thinking she saved her son’s life.
This isn’t the first time retinoblastoma has made headlines.
Noah Shaw was also diagnosed with the rare form of cancer several years ago when he was 3 months old.
Although Noah underwent surgery to remove his right eye and is currently doing well, his dad Bryan Shaw created an iPhone app to detect different eye conditions in children.
“It’s going to be tough to eliminate vision loss, but this software can eliminate the death associated with this disease just by early diagnosis,” Shaw told People.
“At the worst, they lose one or both of their eyes – but they still have their life.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
