The White Light in the Photo: A Child’s Cancer Warning

Mpundu Valerie

DISCLAIMER: This story is shared for cancer awareness purposes and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for any medical concerns.

We thought Takadini was our little celebrity. In every photo, his left eye shone white. Ma said, "vana vane nyenyedzi," a child with a star in his eye. We even posted it. He was 2 years old. He never complained. Only thing we noticed, his eyes would sometimes not look the same way like he had a slight squint. We thought it was cute.

Gogo said don't take him to clinic, "chibhoyi" someone is jealous. We waited. As he was our first, we never argued with Gogo she knew way better. When he was 2 and a half, his eye started to be red always, like he had been crying. That's when my sister, who is a nurse, saw the photo and shouted. "That white reflection is not normal. That's leukocoria. Take him now!"

We thought she was being fancy with words, as she had a tendency to always show off new vocabulary.

At the Hospital, they said Retinoblastoma. Cancer of the retina. I asked why. The doctor said it's not because of anything we did it's a fault in a gene called RB1. In Taka, it was only one eye, a non-heritable type, the one that happens by chance. They said it was Group D, big, but still inside the eye. Because we came late, they could not save the eye, only his life. We had to choose eye or life. We chose life. They removed the eye. They called it enucleation.

Doctors always had big terms to throw at us. We just nodded we had, had Taka after so many years of trying. He still was our gem. We would give anything for him to live to see the next day. Today Taka is 4, he has a prosthetic eye. He runs. He plays. He is alive because a white light in a photo told us.

If we had known earlier, he could have kept both eyes with just laser and chemo. Parents, check your children's photos. If one eye glows white like a cat's eye in a flash, if the eyes cross, if the eye is always red. Go to the eye doctor. It affects all children black, white, boys, girls. It does not care. But it has a cure if you come early.

If you have a story to share, kindly reach out at 263 774 778 179. In memory of all the little stars we caught too late

retinoblastoma in children