A mum detected her son's rare cancer using the flash on her mobile phone camera.<br /><br />Sarah Hedges, 40, was cooking shepherd's pie for dinner when she looked across at son Thomas, three-months-old, and saw a "white glow" in his eye.<br /><br />The mum-of-four said it was reflecting the light "like a cat's eye" and took photos with the flash turned on using her phone to see if she could spot it again.<br /><br />She Googled what she saw - and reports said he might have cancer - so she showed the photos to her GP.<br /><br />Test confirmed Sarah's suspicions and he was diagnosed with retinoblastoma - a rare and aggressive form of eye cancer that affects babies and young children.<br /><br />He had chemotherapy and is now stable.<br /><br />Sarah, a support worker, from Gillingham, Kent, said: "I thought my son was going to die.<br /><br />"I thought I was going to lose him, when you hear the word cancer you automatically think of the worse - this can be life-threatening.<br /> <br />"I just wanted to be swallowed up and someone to tell me that it was a bad dream and that I would wake up in a minute.<br /><br />"My world just fell apart. I just sobbed he just kept talking and holding my hand trying to comfort me."<br /><br />Sarah was cooking dinner for her three other children, Beth, 21, Dillan, 16, and Lucas, eight, in November 2022 when she noticed the glow.<br /><br />Sarah said: "I noticed his eye looked like a cat's eye. <br /><br />"I couldn't see it again so then I wondered whether it was just the lighting. <br /><br />"It was playing on my mind, so the next day I moved Thomas around in different rooms near lighting and eventually, I saw it again.” <br /><br />"I remembered years ago seeing something about a flash on the camera, but I had no idea what it was for or where I saw it, so I took some photos of his eye using the flash. <br /><br />"When I Googled it, it came up with cancer."<br /><br />After five days, Sarah finally got through to a GP and booked an appointment. <br /><br />The GP didn't seem worried but referred Thomas to Medway Hospital after seeing a picture of the white glow in his eye.<br /><br />He was diagnosed with eye cancer.<br /><br />Recalling being given the news, Sarah said: "The doctor called us back into his room to discuss the results, I was in the bathroom. <br /><br />"When I came out, he was waiting for me, I knew then it wasn't good news, no doctor waits for someone outside the toilet do they?<br /> <br />“Before he said anything I asked, 'Is it cancer?' and he said, I'm sorry it's not good news."<br /><br />Thomas was referred to the Royal London Hospital, and had six rounds of chemo, starting November 2022.<br /><br />And after battling sepsis, he finished his final round of chemotherapy on April 6, 2023 and rang the bell on May 10, 2023.<br /><br />Sarah said that Thomas is recovering well and is a "cheeky little boy".<br /><br />She said: “Thomas is a very happy little boy. He loves playing with his older brother rough and tumble on the floor."
