My little star

6:08pm Tuesday 12th February 2008

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CUTE little Isha Tavares can thank her vigilant family for spotting the rare eye cancer that could have so easily claimed her life.

Only 50 children a year are diagnosed in the UK with the condition and the twoyear- old is now spearheading a local campaign by Cancer Research UK to raise awareness of the disease and show us how we can all make a difference during Leap Year.

Isha's mum Ruth, 31, a trainee social worker from Winchester, explained it was a chance reading of an article by Isha's grandmother Heather that alerted them to the cancer and resulted in Isha being diagnosed in April last year, just weeks before her second birthday.

"It was her dad who first thought there was something wrong with her eye. I took her to the baby clinic and the doctor said she had a squint.

"Then, one day, I went to lift Isha out of her cot and in the artificial light I saw a white light in her right eye.

"I told my mum about it and she looked really worried.

She told me about an article she had seen in a newspaper about a little girl whose pupil looked white in photographs and it turned out she had a rare form of eye cancer."

Ruth acted on her mother's concerns and tests confirmed Isha had several tumours in her right eye.

A white pupil that doesn't reflect light - which can most obviously be seen in photographs taken by flash photography - can indicate cancer.

"In artificial light you can't see it at all. Afterwards I looked back at some photos that had been taken at a party about a month before and her eyes looked white," she said.

Ruth, from Gar Street,Winchester, took the heartbreaking decision to allow doctors to remove Isha's right eye.

She said: "Although I was devastated I realised it would save her life. After the surgery to remove her eye, she had to have chemotherapy to ensure that cancer cells, found in her blood, would not spread to any other part of her body."

Isha has been fitted with an artificial eye and Ruth explained it was better than she first imagained.

"When I first heard she must have an artificial eye, I thought it would be like a marble but it's more like a big contact lens - and if you looked at her you would just think she had a lazy eye," she said.

Isha needs constant trips to Southampton General Hospital to control the infections and the youngster, who is now in remission, still has to have check-ups every three months under a general anaesthetic at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London.These will continue until she is seven.

"If my mum hadn't read that article things could have been so different - by telling our story we may help more families to find out about it," she said.

Isha recently received a Cancer Research UK Little Star Award, which recognises the unique challenges faced by children diagnosed with cancer.

She was nominated by Ruth who said: "Isha is a very special little girl. She has been through so much in her life so far, but despite everything she is always smiling and bring so much joy to those around her.

"She has been so brave and continues to be."

Ruth now wants people inWinchester to join the Cancer Research UK campaign, Make Today Count, to support the charity's life-saving research.

There are four simple ways to take part.

● Pop into a Cancer Research UK shops to buy a special Make Today Count pin badge for a suggested donation of £1 and, once in the shop, check out quality donated clothes and home ware for sale at bargain prices.

● Make a donation via the Make Today Count website, perhaps the equivalent of an hour's salary.

● Use the additional day to host either a breakfast or dinner fundraising party, cooking up delicious healthy food for family and friends who, in return, are asked to make a donation to Cancer Research UK ● Get together with work colleagues to have an office "leap year" quiz, fancy dress day, or get sponsored to swap jobs with the boss.