A TOURIST has thanked an Edinburgh museum after a "life-changing" exhibition uncovered a hidden breast cancer.

Bal Gill, 41, visited the Camera Obscura & World of Illusions with her family in May and got a photo from the museum's thermal camera.

4 Bal Gill was diagnosed with cancer after spotting a heat spot on her breast at Camera Obscura

The attraction, installed in 2009, lets visitors see heat spots all over their body and Bal, from Slough, noticed a red patch around her left breast.

She researched the thermal imaging while still on her three-day trip to the capital, finding that it has been used to help find cancers in the USA.

After returning home to Berkshire, she made an appointment with her doctor and was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Thanks to the startling discovery at Camera Obscura, Bal's cancer was spotted in the early stages.

4 Camera Obscura and World of Illusions lit up on the Royal Mile

And it was completely by chance that she and her family visited the museum.

Speaking to the Scottish Sun, she said: "I'd never been [to Edinburgh] and we just wanted to do a different vacation this year so we thought we'd go there. It's good and really quirky so I thought it would be nice to go with the kids."

"We had tickets to go to Holyrood and the castle. We popped into the castle and had a look around there. As we were on our way down, we saw CO and thought we'd pop in.

"We hadn't pre-booked tickets but the queue was small so we went in and had a look. It was somewhere we wanted to go but hadn't planned on it that day.

"It was 100% a life-changing trip.” Bal Gill

"One of the exhibitions is the thermal imaging camera. We went in and, as any family does, waved our hands around.

"While we were there, I noticed a lot of heat coming from my left breast. I looked around at others coming in and couldn't see anything similar on them, so took a video and picture on my phone and carried on with the rest of the day.

"It was playing on my mind a bit and I thought it was a bit odd but didn't really think much more of it."

Thankfully, Bal was able to get a speedy diagnosis after heading home to Slough.

Despite having a mammogram earlier in the year, the cancer hadn't been noticed, but it was picked up thanks to her family's chance visit to Camera Obscura.

4 The Camera Obscura exhibit includes a mirror maze

"[The diagnosis] was done really quickly. I had an MRI, ultrasound and biopsy, and I think it was all done and dusted by July time.

"What i have is stage zero breast cancer and it's called DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ). That's what makes it even more quirky is that it was so early.

"I'd had a breast infection at the beginning of the year and had a mammogram at that point and it hadn't been picked up at anything sinister at that stage.

"I was due for a follow-up appointment in September or October but I pushed it to the back of my mind thinking it was probably nothing."

4 Visitors also get a heat map of their body - which helped uncover Bal's cancer

Bal, who is deputy director of finance at a university, has undergone two surgeries so far and has one more due in November to prevent the disease from spreading.

She is hopeful going under the knife for the third time will give her the all clear.

Bal said: "I've had two surgeries, one in August and one in September. And I've got one due in November just to make sure the margins are clear.

"With DCIS it's not always the case it's invasive but I'm a higher risk with it.

"I'm hoping the next surgery will give me the all clear. As it currently stands, I think that's the case but we won't know until November.

"It's definitely quite positive. I think it just feels that it's quite preventative.

"I think because it had been picked up really early and I had looked into survival rates, which were good, while I was shocked it was more a case of it being manageable. I have an amazing doctor as well which really helped."

Bal reached out to the museum while off work following her first operation, and was keen to thank them for the "life-changing" discovery.

She said: "I had surgery and a mastectomy on the left breast and while i was off recovering, I genuinely felt so grateful for Camera Obscura.

"It was all a bit overwhelming and very much by chance and I just wanted to reach out and let them know. It was just so quirky, so I thought it was nice to let them know.

"It was 100% a life-changing trip. Had we not gone, I don't think I would have necessarily have acted in the way that I did. You just assume things are all right unless you're in pain or something so there was nothing to make me think I needed to go to the doctor's.

"The age where mammograms are done is 50, so it's a lot earlier than i would normally get them. There's a tendency to think because of our age that things can't affect us, but cearly they can. It's been a bit of an eye-opener."

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Andrew Johnson, the museum's general manager, said: “We did not realise that our thermal camera had the potential to detect life-changing symptoms in this way.

"We were really moved when Bal contacted us to share her story as breast cancer is very close to home for me and a number of our team.

"It’s amazing that Bal noticed the difference in the image and crucially acted on it promptly.

"We wish her all the best with her recovery and hope to meet her and her family in the future."

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