Parents spotted an unusual symptom in their son’s eyes whenever lights were switched off before their child was diagnosed with cancer.
Lowri Gallagher and Shane Stevenson weren’t initially concerned when they noticed a slight difference between Kooper’s two eyes when he looked in a certain direction.
However, the pair became worried when they noticed little Kooper’s left eye gave a white glint whenever lights were turned off.
While it’s always best to visit a healthcare professional, Lowri and Shane took to Google for answers, where they discovered their son may have retinoblastoma.
The rare form of cancer ‘mostly affects children under 3 years of age,’ according to the NHS.
“Retinoblastoma is often linked to a change in a gene that controls the growth of the eye,” the website adds, while stating the cancer can run in families.
Lowri and Shane took photos of their 20-month-old son’s eye with their phone’s flash on. They were left horrified by a white glow found in every picture.
After the pictures were taken, Kooper was rushed to the doctor’s and referred to Birmingham’s Children’s Hospital, UK, on December 13.
The little lad was ultimately diagnosed with unilateral retinoblastoma, with doctors ultimately telling Kooper’s parents the toddler is blind in his left eye.
“I didn’t think anything of it, I didn’t realise the seriousness of it,” Lowri said. “Shane didn’t believe me at first but a couple of days later we took the pictures, which made it stand out more.
The parent added: “The week before we found out what it was the worst week. I didn’t know what it was, how fatal it would be, if it had spread, I was wondering if he was going to lose his eye.
“At least then we knew what it was and what the plan was, it was a bit of a relief because the speculation was over.
“I just felt numb, I didn’t know how to feel.”
Kooper is currently undergoing intra arterial chemotherapy, with the hope he will be able to keep his eye with ongoing treatment.
The one-year-old will also have to get chemotherapy injections and laser therapy – something which will take at least two years.
“I would have noticed his eye looks different from the other but I probably wouldn’t have gone to the GP urgently, I probably would have waited until he got worse,” Lowri added.
“I probably wouldn’t have been immediately alarmed until it got worse.”
The couple are now advising other parents to check their children’s eyes for potential issues.
