Eye Health | A Chance Encounter, Two Lives Changed: Claudia’s Story

Today’s #ThrowBackThursday is a story of chance encounters and lives changed through partnership, vision health awareness and correction. We were fortunate to have the lovely and amazing Claudia Rojas, Optician & Retail Operation extraordinaire, bring her optical expertise with the team to Kenya. Together Clearly’s Change the View and Free the Children teams helped support local health professionals in South Narok, Kenya, screen and treat local patients’ vision concerns.

This is Claudia’s story: 

I was fortunate to cross paths with a child whose eyes spoke louder than the few words he could speak. Upon meeting this beautiful baby, I further understood the purpose of our presence here in Kenya.

During our second day of screening at Kishon Medical Center, while a woman was being screened, I was admiring the beautiful child that she carried in her arms. I looked closer into the child’s eyes as he looked into the distance, and that’s when I recognized the signs of Retinoblastoma.

Retinoblastoma (RB) is the most common eye cancer observed in children. It affects the retina and if left untreated can result in blindness and in severe cases, requires the removal of the eye. Fortunately, Retinoblastoma is still quite rare and is diagnosed in approximately 1 in every 20,000 children.

Eye Care Professionals can help pre-screen for Retinoblastoma in children as young as three months with the goal of early detection. Early detection can help maximize the visual outcome and the quality of life of the affected child. Fortunately, with appropriate medical help, the survival rate for affected children is 96%.

The first sign of retinoblastoma is a strange light or whiteness reflected in the pupil of the eye under certain lighting conditions. This whiteness has been described as similar to a cat’s eye. In this case, the reflection seen in the pupil is actually the white surface of the tumor within the eye.

I could see these signs in both of the child’s eyes, so we immediately took the mother to have her child examined by the Ophthalmologist who had arrived from Nairobi to assist. I spoke with him later that day and he confirmed that the child did have Retinoblastoma. Both the clinic Optometrist and Ophthalmologist committed themselves to making sure to follow up with the mother in order to provide the child with the appropriate treatment in Nairobi.

I cannot express how humbled and grateful I was for the opportunity to identify this issue and help change the course of this young child’s life. I am so proud of the entire team that joined me in this amazing experience and our partners who will help ensure the vision health of their communities.