Mum’s hunch detects cancer in Florida toddler

11:10am Thursday 28th August 2008

Comments (1)   Have your say »

A STRETFORD mother detected symptoms of cancer in a photograph of a baby girl she had never met.

Madeline Robb, 32, was chatting online with Megan Santos, from Tampa, Florida, who sent a picture of her one-year-old daughter, Rowan.

The sector support analyst, who has no medical training, immediately feared something was wrong when she spotted a white glare on the baby's eye.

She did an internet search to find out more, and realised it could be a sign of retinoblastoma, an eye cancer.

She e-mailed Megan who immediately took her baby to a doctor, who diagnosed a tumour in her eye.

Now Rowan is having chemotherapy and, although she will lose an eye, doctors say her chance of recovery has been greatly improved by the early diagnosis.

Madeline, who is married to Doug and has a one-year-old daughter, Lilith, said she was immediately alerted by the white shadow: "I saw the photo and thought something did not look right. I had seen it on the news so I looked it up."

She added that being able to help a baby thousands of miles away was "unbelievable and indescribable. It is just the most amazing thing.

"Her prognosis is good because they caught it when they did.

"Not everyone gets a chance to do something like this but when you do it is just the most amazing feeling."

Madeline met Megan through a pregnancy website when they were both expecting their babies.

The first sign of retinoblastoma is often a white pupil that does not reflect the light, that may be detected when a picture is taken using flash photography.