My best friend’s son, Seb, was diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma, a rare form of eye cancer, when he was just 9 months old. Seb’s parents first noticed a squint in one of his eyes and after appointments with specialists their journey lead them to the Royal London Hospital, one of only two centres for retinoblastoma in the country. He has had 6 rounds of systemic chemotherapy and responded well but in May 2016 he relapsed and subsequently needed 3 rounds of intra arterial chemotherapy and 3 rounds of intra vitreal chemotherapy to stabilise the tumours. Luckily, the recent chemo has worked well and he has two appointments in a row where it was found to be ‘stable’.

Seb needs examinations under general anaesthetic at least every 6-7 weeks to ensure any relapse is treated quickly. There is still a 60% chance he will lose his right eye.

The Children’s Eye Cancer Trust have really supported Seb and his family and work tirelessly to raise awareness of the disease. The team are on the ward when diagnosis is made so the support is immediate. They're a small charity that quite literally hold parents' and children's hands from the start. They continue to support them all the way into adulthood, from aiding children at nursery and school, supporting siblings, emotional, psychological and practical support for families, plus financial, employment and disability advice and guidance where appropriate. The charity provide social networking opportunities to enable children, teenagers and adults to meet with others facing the same challenges.

CHECT work hard to raise awareness of retinoblastoma to help earlier diagnosis and therefore more positive outcomes.
They also fund vital research which is helping to save sight, eyes and ultimately, children's lives.

Any contributions made towards this amazing charity will be gratefully received and through raising awareness and funds, we hope that it will lead to further reasearch, prevention and necessary treatment of this disease.

Thank you!