Samantha Rouse is an auxiliary nurse by trade, so you’d think that when she goes to the doctor and says she thinks there’s something wrong, that people would actually listen to her. Not so. When she snapped a picture of her infant son Jacob and noticed that there was a white spot in his eye, her first thought was retinoblastoma. It’s an incredibly rare and fast-growing form of eye cancer that can only be detected by looking into the retinas, like via photograph.
“Nobody believed there was anything wrong, even my GP told me it was just the flash and he was reluctant to refer us. Maybe my job makes me more cautious. It definitely means I was able to stand up to the doctor and insist Jacob went to hospital.”
While retinoblastoma affects only about 50 children every year, if not caught and treated early it will cause blindness. While doctors were unable to save Jacob’s left eye, they’re hoping that they’ll be able to save his right eye and the vision therein via aggressive treatment involving lasers and chemotherapy. The cancer has a great survival rate (95%), so while Jacob isn’t out of the woods yet, he’s got a good shot.
Tags: Samantha Rouse, Jacob Rouse, photo detects cancer in baby’s eye, cancer detected via picture, retinoblastoma, rare medical conditions, unusual medical conditions, discoveries, Hull, East Yorkshire, Great Britain