Sharp optician spots brain tumour

23 December 2008 05:23pm

A quick-thinking optician helped saved a 12-year-old girl's life when he spotted the warning signs of a brain tumour.

Kathryn Lamb, from Lingmell, Washington, Tyne and Wear, went for a check-up after suffering headaches and blurred vision.

But the optometrist noticed that she seemed unwell and suspected she needed something more serious than a new pair of glasses.

He sent her to hospital where an MRI scan revealed a tumour behind her left eye which was wrapped around her pituitary gland.

The schoolgirl underwent an eight-hour operation to remove the growth after the examination in June and spent eight weeks recovering in hospital.

The vision in her left eye has been affected and she is still taking medication but she is now back at St Robert of Newminster School.

Kathryn's optometrist at Specsavers, Mike Wood, said: "Kathryn had visited us on a number of occasions for a routine eye test, however it was clear on this occasion there was something wrong, she looked very tired and unwell, not at all like the 12-year-old I had seen only four months before."

He said that after tests the blurred vision remained and needed further investigation by a specialist.

"It set alarm bells ringing that something more sinister was causing her ill health."

Her mother Diane said: "Kathryn had to have major surgery and spent lots of time in hospital, but she has made a great recovery, she could have completely lost her sight or even worse, her life."

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