A UK mum says she was able to detect her three-month-old son’s rare cancer using the flash on her phone camera.
Sarah Hedges, 40, from Gillingham in Kent, was cooking dinner in November 2022 when she looked across at her son Thomas and noticed a “white glow” in his eye.
She said it was reflecting like “a cat’s eye”, so she used her phone camera with the flash on to take photos to see if she could spot it again.
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The mum-of-four said: “I couldn’t see it again, so then I wondered whether it was just the lighting.
“It was playing on my mind, so the next day I moved Thomas around in different rooms near lighting and eventually, I saw it again.”
Hedges googled what she saw, and her research suggested Thomas could have cancer — so she showed the photos to her doctor.
Initially, the doctor didn’t seem worried, Hedges said, but referred Thomas to Medway Hospital, just in case.
Thomas was diagnosed with retinoblastoma — a rare and aggressive form of eye cancer that affects infants and young children.
“The doctor called us back into his room to discuss the results. I was in the bathroom,” Hedges said.
“When I came out, he was waiting for me. I knew then it wasn’t good news — no doctor waits for someone outside the toilet, do they?“Before he said anything, I asked, ‘Is it cancer?’ and he said, ‘I’m sorry, it’s not good news’.”
Hedges recalled thinking Thomas was going to die.
“When you hear the word ‘cancer,’ you automatically think of the worst — this can be life-threatening,” she said.
“I just wanted to be swallowed up and someone to tell me that it was a bad dream and that I would wake up in a minute.”
Thomas was referred to Royal London Hospital, where he had six round of chemotherapy starting in November 2022.
Thomas had his final round of chemotherapy on April 6, 2023.
His mother said her “cheeky little boy” is recovering well.
Rare cancer
Signs of retinoblastoma include a white glow — which may only appear in certain lights — as well as a change in the appearance of the eye, or a swollen eye, according to the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust (CHECT).
“Symptoms can be quite subtle, and children often seem well in themselves, which can make it hard to diagnose. In just under half of all cases, a child must have an eye removed as part of their treatment,” CHECT chief executive Richard Ashton said. “We are grateful that in Thomas’ case, his symptoms were recognised so that he could receive treatment.”
