Yorkshire optician saved her niece's life after spotting cancer during an eye test

Laura Leafe, 37, said she became "concerned" about her niece, Olivia, then two, after her sister-in-law, Ewelina Skwarlo, 34, spotted an "unusual white glow" in her daughter's eye in February 2022. Ewelina took some photos and sent them to Laura before taking Olivia to see her auntie for an eye test after two days.

Laura was "shocked" to see a retinoblastoma – a rare type of eye cancer – and referred Olivia to Pinderfields Hospital, Wakefield, where she was seen a few days later. After an examination at the hospital, doctors confirmed that Olivia had eye cancer and she was sent to Birmingham Women's and Children's Hospital, West Midlands, for treatment.

Oliva, now three, underwent intra-arterial chemotherapy and the tumour shrank and is under control, but there are still small parts to treat which means she will require monthly check-ups.

Laura, from Great Heck, North Yorkshire, said: "I was already concerned due to the photograph Ewelina had sent me, but I was shocked to see what I suspected to be a retinoblastoma. After the shock, I was very thankful to be an optometrist and in the position to be able to help at one of the most stressful times of my family's life.

"I am so glad Ewelina asked about the 'reflection'. If I hadn't been in this profession the diagnosis may have come much later."

Olivia's mum, Ewelina, first noticed an unusual white glow in Olivia's eye just after her second birthday.