I thought my three-year-old son had conjunctivitis – it turned out to be something far more sinister
A MUM has spoken of her heartbreak after she thought her three-year-old son had conjunctivitis but it turned out to be something far more serious.
Jade Williams, 29, was given the devastating news on April 14 her son Rhys had a rare type of eye cancer known as Retinoblastoma.
She said he didn’t experience barely any symptoms until she noticed his left eye was “glassy, glazed”, and put it down to conjunctivitis.
Jade, from Hereford, told the Mirror: “He kept saying his eye was ‘sunny’. Then I noticed he was getting worse and the pupil was getting more red.”
She spoke to a friend who works at Specsavers who advised her to take photos of Rhys’ eyes and send them to an optometrist.
The pictures show his right eye with a normal, black pupil but the left one was white.
Jade was told to take him to A&E and after a few days, having undergone various tests, the youngster was given the devastating diagnosis.
Doctors said he has the most aggressive type of tumour in his left eye.
Jade, who is mum to three other sons Kayden, 11, Theo, 9, and four-month-old Arthur, said: “I went into survival mode and thought, ‘I have to be strong for my son’.”
But she admitted she “broke down” after putting the kids to bed.
Rhys now has to have treatment at the oncology unit at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, which is one of only two hospitals to offer the service, every four weeks.
Doctors will have to remove his eye completely if the tumour doesn’t shrink enough by the next round of chemotherapy.
Jade said: “There’s nothing worse than seeing him in pain. It’s heartbreaking and I cry at every single appointment.”
Despite the terrible situation, Jade said Rhys was being incredibly brave and like helping her out with baby Arthur by feeding and changing him.
She said he loves playing football and they were about to start him in a team before he became unwell.
Jade added that while he knows he has a poorly eye and they don’t hide the word ‘cancer’ from him, all he knows is that he has to go to the doctors due to being unwell.
With Jade having to look after a newborn as well as her two older sons, she and partner Chris Friery, along with Rhys’ dad Kurt are splitting the care between themselves.
Due to this they have to move their shifts about and have to take time off for hospital visits.
There’s nothing worse than seeing him in pain. It’s heartbreaking and I cry at every single appointment
Mum Jade Williams
As Jade is self-employed she is not receiving an income while she is on maternity leave.
Although she did say they have an “amazing” support group of friends and family she admitted that hospital parking and meals were a “struggle”.
Jade has now launched a fundraiser to help her family get through this tough time and is also hoping to raise awareness and funds for the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust who provide care packages for parents in the same position.
She said: “The hospital has been amazing. We couldn’t be more grateful to the doctors and nurses for their care.
“We wanted to help others in our position, and we thought this was the best way.”
The family has already broken their original £1,000 target and their GoFundMe page has already surpassed £3,800.
They have to wait another week to discover if Rhys’ tumour has shrunk.
Last month, a mum urged parents to check their children’s eyes after her daughter was diagnosed with eye cancer.
Isla Palul was only 14-months-old when her mum Rebecca, 35, noticed her eye moving strangely while she was playing with her toys.
In May last year, a mum revealed how she knew something was wrong with her son as he took his first excited steps.
Parents Natasha and Alex Finney doted on their son as he walked for the first time, before noticing a cloudiness in one eye.