![\"ava](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_embedded11540175.jpg\")
\u2018There wasn\u2019t anything they could do to save the eye\u2019 (Image: PA Real Life)<\/p>\nHer family said the change happened in a matter of hours<\/p>\n
08:48, 28 Nov 2025Updated 08:52, 28 Nov 2025<\/p>\n
\u2018There wasn\u2019t anything they could do to save the eye\u2019 (Image: PA Real Life)<\/p>\n
The parents of a toddler who was diagnosed with a rare eye cancer at the age of one have said they hope she will have \u201cas close to a normal life as she can when she\u2019s older, but we\u2019re not there yet\u201d. Ava Grace, the now-three-year-old daughter of Vicki Cooper-Bird, 37, and Ian Bird, 40, was diagnosed with retinoblastoma \u2013 cancer of the retina \u2013 shortly after her first birthday in 2023.<\/p>\n
The rare cancer affects between 40 and 50 people each year, usually children under five, and has cost Ava her right eye.<\/p>\n
\u201cAva\u2019s diagnosis, it was completely blindsiding,\u201d Vicki, who lives in Port Talbot<\/a>, South Wales, said. \u201cWe had no idea, nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n Ava had been a happy and healthy little girl, but everything changed when she was 14 months old. After contracting hand, foot and mouth disease \u2013 a common viral illness that predominantly affects children \u2013 Vicki and Ian began to notice changes in Ava\u2019s eyes.<\/p>\n Over a matter of hours, her iris darkened from a light blue to a dark blue, and her pupil stopped dilating properly, prompting a trip to the GP. Unable to see the back of Ava\u2019s eye, the GP referred the family to the paediatric assessment unit, who admitted her for three days for monitoring and tests.<\/p>\n An ultrasound scan found that the pressure in Ava\u2019s eye was more than double what it should have been, and the family\u2019s world came crashing down when the senior paediatrician for ophthalmology told them he suspected retinoblastoma \u2013 a rare eye cancer. Ava had full retinal detachment, meaning the light-sensitive retinal tissue had separated entirely from the back of the eyeball, and was blind in the affected eye, something Vicki and Ian hadn\u2019t been aware of until that point.<\/p>\n Ava was transferred to a specialist clinic in Birmingham for an eye exam under general anaesthetic, where the parents\u2019 worst fears were confirmed: she had a 22mm grade E tumour \u2013 the highest and most serious grade \u2013 and she was diagnosed with retinoblastoma on November 2 2023.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was really aggressive, and there wasn\u2019t anything they could do to save the eye,\u201d Vicki said, adding that surgery was soon scheduled to remove the tumour and Ava\u2019s eye.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just sat in the car and we just cried. At that particular time, we didn\u2019t know anything about retinoblastoma. We didn\u2019t know how long we had left with her\u2026 We just felt raw and unsure of what the future held.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe C word, when you hear that for yourself, is almost devastating, but when you hear it for your one year old, that\u2019s really another level, which no one would ever even want to even consider\u2026\u201d Ian added. \u201cIt was very numbing, but we just had to focus on the next step.\u201d<\/p>\n Thankfully, the cancer had not spread along the optic nerve, so there was no need for chemotherapy before surgery. On November 14, just three days after Vicki and Ian\u2019s wedding day, Ava was taken into surgery to remove her eye.<\/p>\n Ava faced complications following the surgery, including the trial-and-error process of finding a prosthetic eye that suited her. She struggled to adjust, often pulling out the prosthetic, and the family had to travel back to hospital two to three times per week to get it reinserted. In the first year alone, Ava tried six different prosthetic eyes.<\/p>\n She has dealt with infections, healing struggles, and more physical difficulties, but is also contending with insomnia and psychological trauma from her experience. Ava hasn\u2019t slept through the night since September 2024, Vicki said, often waking between four and six times per night \u2013 but she is now attending bi-weekly play therapy sessions and has been prescribed melatonin to help her sleep.<\/p>\n Vicki and Ian also have two other children \u2013 a son aged 14, and a daughter aged 12 \u2013 who have faced a lot of disruption to family life over the last two years. Ava attends a specialist clinic at Waterfall House at the Birmingham Women\u2019s and Children\u2019s Hospital \u2013 one of only two sites in the UK which offer treatment for retinoblastoma \u2013 meaning Vicki and Ian must travel 200 miles each way for her appointments, often needing to spend the night in Birmingham, too. Ava has had 64 appointments in the past two years.<\/p>\n \u201cThey fully understand that Ava is taking the majority of the attention, not the love, but certainly the attention,\u201d Ian said of the couple\u2019s older children. \u201cIt is difficult for them. They experience things and witness things that shouldn\u2019t really be normal for a child, but we just try to get through it, and we just try to spread as much positive news as we can with them and try to share positive experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n Thankfully, Ava is now cancer-free \u2013 but she still faces a \u201creally big medical journey\u201d. \u201cWe just want to just move on with our lives as a family, and not look at when the next hospital appointment is, literally in the coming week,\u201d Ian said. \u201cI know she will have as close to a normal life as she can when she\u2019s older, but we\u2019re not there yet, unfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n For children like Ava, the smallest comforts during scary and intense hospital appointments can make the biggest difference. When she had surgery to remove her eye, a nurse gifted her a cuddly penguin called Pip, who had a removable eye \u2013 just like Ava. Now, Ian and Vicki are supporters of Children with Cancer UK\u2019s Christmas<\/a> Appeal, which is helping children who are dealing with cancer with a cuddly friend, Corry the Bear.<\/p>\n Corry the teddy has been a friend to Ava during her recent appointments and surgeries. She plays with him at home, takes him into hospital, and he\u2019s there for her in post-surgery recovery when her parents can\u2019t be \u2013 he even wore her identity band for her, as her phobia of hospitals makes it difficult for her to wear it herself.<\/p>\n \u201cIt represents comfort, really,\u201d Ian said. \u201cIt is a physical comfort, just something to be with Ava, and she can associate it with a bit of normality as well. Because it\u2019s at home, and it\u2019s something she can take with her to hospital too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just a little teddy, but to her, it\u2019s a massive deal,\u201d Vicki added. \u201cIt\u2019s her safe place, essentially, when she\u2019s in this scary environment.\u201d<\/p>\n As for Ava, there\u2019s a long road ahead \u2013 but she and her family look forward to a day when life is closer to normal. This Christmas, Vicki urges parents to watch out for the signs of retinoblastoma \u2013 signs which can be most prominently spotted through flash photography, which many parents will be using to capture festive memories of their families.<\/p>\n For example, the main symptom is a white pupil or glow, which can be seen in photos where the other eye shows a red reflection. Other symptoms include a lazy eye, a squint, loss of vision and changes in the colour of the iris.<\/p>\n![\"Ava](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_embedded11540176.png\")
Ava during treatment (Image: PA Real Life)<\/p>\n![\"ava](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_embedded11540179.png\")
Ava is now cancer-free \u2013 but she still faces a \u2018really big medical journey'(Image: PA Real Life)<\/p>\n![\"the](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_embedded11540162.jpg\")
\u2018Ava\u2019s diagnosis was completely blindsiding\u2019, her mum Vicki said(Image: PA Real Life)<\/p>\n