'My daughter was told she might need glasses... we weren't ready for the unbelievable shock'

A five-year-old girl was diagnosed with eye cancer during a routine eye test after displaying no symptoms. Rachel McGovern, five, had an eye test in school which revealed she might need glasses and was referred to an ophthalmologist.

Her mum, Geraldine McGovern, 40, took her to the appointment at Sligo University Hospital in Ireland and the doctor placed eye drops which revealed a tumour in her right eye.

Doctors confirmed to Geraldine that it was cancer and transferred her Temple Street Children's Hospital, Dublin, where an MRI confirmed Rachel had retinoblastoma.

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Six days after her initial diagnosis, on October 16, 2022, Rachel was in Birmingham Women's Hospital for intra-arterial chemotherapy and 12 months of treatment. A year later, Geraldine was told Rachel was in remission and in August this year, she was officially discharged from hospital.

Geraldine, a full-time mum, from Dowra, County Caven, said: "Rachel didn't have the glow or any unusual symptoms. In Ireland, infants have routine eye and hearing tests and they picked up that she needed glasses and referred us to the hospital.

"When the doctor looked into her eye, everything was fine. It was only when the eye drops went in and dilated her eye that they could see the tumour. It was an unbelievable shock, we went in for a routine eye test and came out being told my daughter had cancer."

Rachel was five years old when she had a routine eye test at school in June 2022. The test showed that Rachel might need glasses but she displayed no symptoms for a retinoblastoma.

In October 2022, Geraldine took Rachel to the eye doctor for her referral at Sligo