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Brave Corey Scott escaped death after having his left eye removed when he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer.

Less than a week after medics discovered he had retinoblastoma the little two-year-old underwent life-saving surgery.

Now Corey and his parents, Rachel Campbell and John Scott, are encouraging others to recognise the importance of children’s eye health this Retinoblastoma (Rb) Awareness Week as it is revealed less than one in three parents have ever had their child’s eyes checked.

And they are telling mums and dads not to “turn a blind eye” and take their kids for a check-up.

Corey’s nightmare started in December when his mum noticed an unusual glow in her son’s eye.

“Rachael asked me if I’d noticed anything strange in his eye when she initially saw the white glow,” said Corey’s dad, John, of Longbenton, North Tyneside. “In fact, I had meant to investigate it a month or two earlier after noticing something similar but because it was just when the light caught it in a certain way, I forgot about it.”

Later that night, Corey’s parents researched what it could mean and once they saw the glow could be a sign of retinoblastoma, they took him immediately to the doctors the next morning.

John added: “The doctor wasn’t sure exactly what it was but they could see there was definitely something in the bottom of his left eye and said they were going to refer us to the local hospital, which could take four to six weeks for an appointment. I knew if it was retinoblastoma, we needed to act fast, so we started to worry.”

(Image: Press Pics - Vision Express)

After struggling to reach a department that could help at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary, John and Rachael discovered only Birmingham Children’s Hospital and Great Ormond Street treated the condition in the UK.

“I rang Birmingham and told them I suspected my son had retinoblastoma. They rang the RVI for us and we were invited in for Corey to have an ultrasound,” said John.

The ultrasound detected the retina in Corey’s left eye had completely detached and there was a large tumour. Corey and his family then drove to Birmingham Children’s Hospital but because the tumour was so large, his sight could not be saved.

Within a few days, Corey underwent surgery to remove his left eye – a couple of days before Christmas.

The operation was a success and Corey now has regular check-ups on his right eye.

“Corey’s doing fine now and has been fitted with an artificial left eye,” John added. “We weren’t even sure he knew what was happening as he was, and still is, so young.

“Afterwards, we found out due to his retina detaching, he had been blind in that eye for at least three months before he was diagnosed, but he showed no signs of struggling and he hadn’t had an eye test yet. His good eye has been checked now, though, and his vision is fine.”

(Image: Press Pics - Vision Express)

Corey’s parents believe, thanks to their persistence, their little boy’s life has been saved.

John said: “After his operation, we got the referral letter through from his first visit to the GP and he would have had to wait until March to be seen. If we hadn’t chased it up and had waited for that appointment, the doctors said the cancer could have spread to his brain.”

As part of Retinoblastoma Awareness Week, Corey and his parents were invited to Vision Express in Gateshead Metrocentre to help host an under-16’s drop-in clinic. The event raised awareness of the condition and highlighted the importance of regular eye tests for children, while offering free comprehensive 30-minute sight checks. Although under 16’s are already entitled to free eye tests on the NHS, Vision Express hoped the drop-in would encourage parents and their offspring to pop by after school.

Vision Express Metrocentre store manager Janice Bainbridge, said: “We were really looking forward to welcoming Corey and his parents to the store, to share their personal experience of eye cancer. It’s a great morale boost for the team to do something meaningful for such a great cause, and is a great way for Vision Express to let people know about the importance of regular eye tests for children.”

John thinks the fact so many parents have never heard of Rb makes raising awareness even more important. He added: “I’d heard of retinoblastoma before but it was one of those things I didn’t take much notice of. When we found out Corey could have it and then when we looked into it, that’s when we started to panic.

“After Corey was diagnosed, I tried to share his story on Facebook but it’s hard to get people to take notice unless they’ve heard of it or it’s happened to someone they care about. That’s why events like this are so important - I want to tell people not to turn a blind eye to it.”

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Children’s sight can be tested at any age, and it’s recommended that they see an optometrist before they start school and begin learning to read. With eyes being fully developed by the time youngsters are eight years old, any sight defects that have gone undetected by that time are largely irreversible. All children under the age of 16, or under 19 and in full-time education, are entitled to a free eye test and a contribution towards glasses or lenses on the NHS.

Vision Express offers an eye test to best practice guidelines of the College of Optometrists (COO), with each Vision Express optometrist being a qualified eye health professional. To book an eye test at the Vision Express Metrocentre store call 0191 460 0644 or make an online enquiry at: www.visionexpress.com/book-eye-test/