Sharp eye wins award

A health worker has won an award for saving a toddlers life - after spotting that the two-year-old had cancer in the eye from looking at a photograph on Facebook.

School Nursing Team Leader, Nicola Sharp, was looking at photos on her daughter’s profile when she saw one of Grace Freeman.  The picture had been taken using a flash which showed up a white pupil in her left eye instead of the "red eye" that is normal - a tell-tale sign of eye cancer.

Ms Sharp alerted Grace’s mother and Grace was subsequently diagnosed with retinoblastoma. 

Doctors discovered she had two tumours and had lost all sight in her left eye.  Medics said that if the cancer had spread it could have proved fatal. 

Grace now travels from Heywood to Birmingham every four weeks for specialist laser treatment and will have to be monitored for the rest of her life but she is making a steady recovery. 

Ms Sharp, who is based at Callaghan House in Heywood, said: "I was just looking at the photos when I noticed something odd.  Normally, you get a red eye tint in photos but when the eye comes out white it can mean something is wrong.  We were praying it was nothing serious, but unfortunately it was.  Thankfully Grace is making good progress.”

Ms Sharp was named as Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Community Healthcare’s Going for Gold Star, as part of a bimonthly awards scheme that recognises outstanding achievement. 

“I was really shocked to be nominated and moved to actually win the award.  It’s nice to be recognised by my colleagues and I’m grateful that I was able to use my 20 years experience to spot this condition so Grace was able to get the treatment she needed.”

Going for Gold Stars is a bi-monthly staff awards scheme that has been developed by Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Community Healthcare to recognise staff who provide an outstanding service or go the extra mile.  The awards are nominated by staff and judged by a panel of Directors and Staff Representatives.