Call it motherly instinct or intuition, but Karen Walsh knew something was wrong.
The Melton mum noticed a “glow” in the eye of her daughter, Emily, although nobody else could see it.
“Then one night my sister noticed Emily’s eye looked a little ‘funky’,” Ms Walsh said.
The next day, four-year-old Emily was rushed to the optometrist, where Amy Giang did some tests, took photos and noticed a “large white mass” on the retina at the back of Emily’s eye. Ms Walsh knew it was serious.
“[My husband and I] were petrified,” she said. “We were sick to the stomach and really nervous … we couldn’t sleep that night.”
Ms Walsh said that if the optometrist hadn’t taken photos of Emily’s eye that day, things would have been very different.
A tumour was big enough to rest against Emily’s nasal cavity and optic nerves. But, thankfully, the life-threatening tumour hadn’t penetrated either. Six months of gruelling chemotherapy and laser surgery didn’t deter Emily, who kept going to kindergarten and doing “everything a normal four-year-old would”.
Two years later, she’s as healthy as ever and about to graduate from prep.
“We’re very, very grateful for Amy – we can’t even put it into words,” Ms Walsh said.
“But, more importantly, we’re very thankful to all our friends and family and even our employers, who were all fantastic.
“My mum made sure our two younger kids lived normal lives while we were at the hospital.”
