TWO teenagers who suffered from a rare type of eye cancer when they were children revisited their old nursery to raise awareness.

Jodie and Jacob Hare, aged 18 and 16 respectively, from Kidderminster, suffered from the rare type of eye cancer, retinoblastoma, which affects children younger than five and can be hereditory. It is usually detected and treated early in the UK, which is why over 98 per cent of children with retinoblastoma are successfully treated. Jodie and Jacob inherited it from their father, who had to have one of his eyes removed when he was younger.

The siblings underwent chemotherapy and laser therapy before they were nine months old and surgeons managed to save their eyes. They are both now ambassadors for Childhood Eye Cancer Trust (CHECT).

They visited the nursery they both attended when they were toddlers, Deerhurst Nursery on Franche Road, to raise awareness of retinoblastoma.

Jodie said: “Going back to the nursery was quite weird really; it was exactly the same as when my brother and I were there. It brought back a lot of memories.

“I don’t really remember about having retinoblastoma. I was three months old and my brother was two weeks old when they detected it. I remember meeting other families with children who had it as well. The charity (CHECT) ran local groups for families to meet up; we used to go on day trips.

“My brother and I were lucky really. Some children can lose one of their eyes because of it, and it can spread to the other one as well. You would not know we had had retinoblastoma if you looked at us.

“My family and I are ambassadors for CHECT. I’ve organised a charity concert in the past to raise money. I also carried the Olympic Torch when it came to Kidderminster. After that I got to keep the torch so I went into local schools and raised money through donations to have their photo taken with the torch. We really hope to do more fundraising and raising awareness in the area soon.”

Lisa Hare, Jodie and Jacob’s mother, said: “We just felt it would be nice to go back to the nursery they attended to raise awareness for eye cancer and CHECT. We took along some special posters, which are interactive with smart phones.

“Their father suffered retinoblastoma when he was young and had to have one of his eyes removed. We knew it could be genetic so we decided to have them checked out when they were babies.

“The surgeons said we were one of the lucky ones. Most families have never heard of it, so unfortunately some children end up having to have one or both eyes removed.”

For more information on retinoblastoma and the CHECT charity, visit www.chect.org.uk.