Written by his mother, Rachel
Our little boy Lucian, just 2 years and 8 months old was full of life, energy, and joy. He showed no signs that anything was wrong. No glow in photos, no complaints, no symptoms.
But one morning, under the hallway downlight, our amazing family daycare educator noticed something unusual in his eye, a beige, lumpy shape where his pupil should have been.
She didn’t ignore it. When I arrived to collect him, she gently showed me what she’d seen. That moment changed everything.
Within 24 hours, we were at our local hospital. Tests revealed that he was completely blind in that eye. That night, we heard the words no parent ever wants to hear: it was likely Retinoblastoma—cancer of the eye. We were urgently referred to the Queensland Children’s Hospital.
The very next day, during the International Ophthalmology Conference, a world-renowned specialist Dr Jaclyn White, who happened to be presenting that weekend flew in to examine our son under general anesthetic and complete a full-body MRI. She confirmed the diagnosis. The tumour had taken over more than 50% of his eye, and his retina had detached. The best option was enucleation removal of the eye.
Just over a week later, our brave little boy underwent surgery.
We are still processing everything. It all happened so fast. But alongside the shock and heartbreak, we feel deep gratitude. Grateful for the attentiveness of our daycare educator. Grateful for the speed and compassion of the medical teams. And most of all, grateful that our beautiful boy is here with us safe, strong, and smiling.
These two photos are just a day apart. Both at our family daycare. His eye looked so normal. The photo where you can see the tumour is what our educator saw under the Downlight and what I took a photo of (no glow, no flash).
