A one-year-old girl from Scunthorpe has undergone life-saving surgery to remove her eye after her parents noticed what turned out to be a cancerous tumour. Athena Ingledew may only be one, but she has faced more hospital trips in the last three months than most people face in a lifetime. Athena is now having chemotherapy to reduce the chances of the cancer returning and will soon be fitted with an artificial eye.

Mum Grace Gravil and dad Charlie Ingledew have had a whirlwind few months since they noticed their daughter’s right eye begin to bulge and grow larger. She was diagnosed with retinoblastoma and underwent the life-saving surgery to remove the tumour – and her eye. Grace said: “It’s been a nightmare and you don’t expect it to happen to you.”

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Athena is now having chemotherapy to reduce the risk of the cancer returning(Image: Grace Gravil)
“It all happened very, very quickly at the beginning of June. She’s always had one iris and pupil bigger than the other one. I didn’t think anything of it to start with. At the beginning of June, it got really big.” Grace took Athena to the doctor, who referred her to Scunthorpe Hospital. “I just thought maybe she was blind in that eye,” Grace said.

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The family were then referred to hospitals in Sheffield and then Birmingham. “They put her to sleep and came back to us and said she’s got retinoblastoma. In some cases it’s laser treatment, but she had the worst group of it. The tumour was that big you could see the white reflecting in her pupil. The only option was eye removal surgery. That happened on June 23, so there wasn’t long in between.”

Grace and Charlie were told that Athena now has a higher chance of cancer returning elsewhere – including in her other eye. Their daughter is now undergoing four rounds of chemotherapy to lower that risk. She will have her other eye checked every eight weeks. Grace said: “It’s just heightened the risk of cancer in the future and if she ever wanted children the best way is IVF. We had no time to take anything in. It’s all been bombarded on to us from one appointment to another, it’s quite stressful. It’s been a struggle.”

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Parents Grace Gravil and Charlie Ingledew first noticed Athena’s right eye was bulging and larger than the left(Image: Grace Gravil)
Despite undergoing major surgery, Athena is taking her treatment “really well”, and is being supported by her older siblings Issac, eight, and Amelia, five. Grace said: “She’s done very well. She lost all her hair. We’ve just had the third lot of chemo. She’s not been poorly, but she has her off days. She ain’t letting it bother her, that’s a fact. Even when she had her eye out, you’d think she’d be laid in bed, but no, it didn’t bother her.

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“They don’t think she’s ever been able to see out of that eye, so everything will be just normal. She had no reflexes in it. It was a little bit bigger but some kids can have differences and it wasn’t anything to concern me at the time, but all of a sudden it just got huge. I feel awful but the doctor said we weren’t to know, not many people know about it. She has a temporary eye and she has an appointment after chemo where they will do measurements and make one best matched to her. Every couple of years they will make her a new one because as she grows it will change. It’s all been very confusing to us all. It’s a lot to take in.”

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Athena with siblings Issac, eight, and Amelia, five(Image: Grace Gravil)
The family’s close friend, Leah Milton, has set up a fundraising page, as the costs associated with so many medical appointments is proving difficult for the family to cope with. They do receive NHS-funded transport to and from chemotherapy appointments, but they are relying on family friends to drive them to any other appointments, such as eye reconstruction services in Doncaster. Athena is unable to use public transport due to her ongoing chemotherapy treatment.

Leah said: “Athena’s been absolutely amazing throughout everything. Even through the surgery, she’s been amazing. It’s not bothered her, she’s just a happy, normal little girl. It’s not a nice situation but it’s a blessing in disguise it’s happened while she’s young. She’s going to bounce back, her hair will come back. She’s never going to remember it. She has a fake eye and she will never know anything different.”

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Leah set up the fundraising page to help her friends Grace and Charlie out with travel costs, food and living costs when visiting hospitals around the country with Athena. She says any leftover money will be used for a family holiday when treatment is over.

Donate to Athena’s fundraising page here.

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