A YORK teenager who survived eye cancer was the guest of honour at the opening of a new opticians.

Tabitha Walker, 14, from Askham Bryan, cut the ribbon at the opening of the new Vision Express at Tesco, on Tadcaster Road during Retinoblastoma (Rb) Awareness Week.

Tabitha, an ambassador for Vision Express’s charity partner Childhood Eye Cancer Trust (CHECT), was diagnosed with the rare and aggressive eye cancer when she was just three.

She was diagnosed after her mum, Claire, noticed a white flash in her eye, and within a week Tabitha had undergone life-saving surgery to remove the affected eye.

Claire said: “There was no family history and no previous problems, but one day I noticed this white flash and I had a bad feeling straight away.

“My first thought was that it was a tumour and she was going to go blind.”

After seeing a local optician, Tabitha was referred to Birmingham Children’s Hospital and it was confirmed that she was completely blind in her right eye.

She had surgery to remove the eye and underwent four sessions of chemotherapy, as the cancer had spread to her optic nerve. Treatment was successful and she now wears an artificial eye.

Claire said: “Rb is a relatively unknown cancer and a lot of parents don’t know what signs to look out for.

“Regular eye examinations are important. If we’d taken Tabitha for an eye test earlier, maybe her eye could have been saved.”

Since 2010, Vision Express has been campaigning with CHECT to raise awareness of Rb and help more families affected by it, and was the first UK optician to roll out a protocol to ensure a quick and effective referral where Rb is suspected.

Sharon Hall, the manager of the new Vision Express at Tesco branch, said: “We were honoured to welcome Tabitha to our store, to share her personal experience of eye cancer.

“Many people don’t realise that eye test at school are no longer mandatory and this is a perfect opportunity for us to let people know about the importance of regular eye exams for children.”

To find out more about the signs of Rb go to https://chect.org.uk/.