Young eye cancer survivor unveils vision store to Ashbourne community

A Church Gresley youngster who lost sight in her left eye due to a rare eye cancer recently joined the Vision Express Ashbourne store team for its official relaunch.

As an ambassador for the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust (CHECT), a nominated charity of the national optical retailer, Katie Boyce, aged nine, joined the store team to perform a ribbon cutting and unveil the optician’s new state-of-the-art facilities.

Katie was diagnosed with retinoblastoma when she was just two years old. Her parents initially presumed that she had a squint, however further checks revealed she needed to be referred to hospital.

“In almost every picture when she was two she had this bright glint in her left eye,” Katie’s mother, Jamie explained. “We couldn’t see it unless there was a flash so it wasn’t until after she was diagnosed that we noticed it. Then her left eye started to wander and I thought the two things might be linked.”

Katie was referred to the Queen’s Hospital in Burton, and then to the Birmingham Children’s Hospital, where it was confirmed she had the rare eye cancer, retinoblastoma in both eyes. “As soon as you hear cancer your heart sinks,” Jamie added. “The thought of losing our little girl at two was awful.