Birmingham has become a major centre for treating and researching a children’s eye cancer but, as health correspondent Alison Dayani reports, funding is under threat as Government cutbacks take their toll

She’s a carefree nine-year-old with a smile that lights up the room.

But things could have been very different for Olivia Falato and her family had Birmingham Children’s Hospital not saved her sight and, possibly, her life.

Olivia was just 14 months old when a passport photo revealed white glints in her eyes and led to her being diagnosed with cancer.

The toddler was suffering from retinoblastoma and faced the stark prospect of having both her eyes removed to stop the disease spreading.

Her mother Julie, from Dudley, said: “The left eye had one big tumour and the right had lots of smaller ones.

“The doctors thought they may have to remove both of her eyes and were trying all sorts of treatments.

“They said they threw away the rule book with Olivia several times. They tried new things to see if they would work, which is all part of the research and hugely important.”

The hospital is one of only two centres in the country able to treat retinoblastoma.

Now an appeal has been launched by the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust to raise £350,000 for more research into the cancer at the University of Birmingham.

It says vital research is being put at risk due to Government cutbacks, creating a more competitive environment to gain grants.

It took a year’s worth of operations and aggressive treatment to clear Olivia of the cancer, included freezing the tumours with cryotherapy, radiation and chemotherapy injections directly into her eyes.

But medics could not save her left eye and Julie and her husband Sid were constantly terrified she would lose her right one too.

“At the time, I couldn’t imagine any blind child being happy and after Olivia’s left eye was removed, it was very hard because it felt like a mutilation,” said 44-year-old Julie, who works as an administrator in Bilston.

“When she woke up after having her eye removed, she was in a lot of pain but we didn’t want to dwell on it as Olivia didn’t want to either.

“There were a lot of tears all the way through those 12 months and Sid and I couldn’t seem to talk without crying. It was horrendous.

“It felt like there was always bad news, but then the nurses said one day that the tumours had all gone in her right eye. We were shocked because we didn’t realise that was a possibility.

“The only things Olivia can’t do with one eye are fly a plane or watch 3D films.

“I realised that, if that’s the worst that can happen, that’s nothing.”

Olivia, a pupil at St Chad’s Catholic Primary School, in Sedgley, is now a gregarious, adventurous nine-year-old, who loves to read Harry Potter despite her false eye and is cancer-free.

“Everything Olivia does is a special moment – reading, writing, dancing, swimming, looking in the mirror,” said Julie.