A mother-of-two tragically discovered she had a tumour behind her right eye, which later spread to her liver, after attending her first eye test in over two decades.
Hannah Quigley had ‘better than perfect’ eyesight her entire life until she began to experience sudden flashes of light in the run up to her daughter’s 13th birthday on January 29 last year.
Having recently lost her beloved father Alex McKie, 72, whom she also cared for, to lung cancer only a few weeks prior, the mother-of-two boiled down the issues with her vision to being ‘tired and stressed’.
The 39-year-old hadn’t been to the opticians in over 24 years, but she quickly booked herself in for an appointment with her local opticians, and was later delivered life-changing news.
Hannah told MailOnline: ‘I didn’t overthink it and I wasn’t worried and I wasn’t frightened. I presumed I’d go and have an eye test and be prescribed, you know, some lenses.’
Here, she underwent a health test and opticians believed the retina in her right eye had detached, so she was referred to Royal Manchester Infirmary for an emergency operation to correct the issue.
Reflecting on her six hours in A&E, she said: ‘I sent my husband home because it was my daughter’s birthday, and although we’d given a present in the morning, we bought her a new iPhone and I wanted her to have it.’
But after her husband, Stewart, left, and several conversations with a myriad of consultants, she was delivered a devastating blow – she was being referred to oncology.
Hannah Quigley pictured with her husband Stewart, and her children, Lola, 14, and, Leo, 11
Hannah had boiled down to the sudden flashes of light to stress due to her father Alex McKie, 72, passing only weeks prior (Pictured at her wedding)
An image of Hannah’s detached retina behind her right eye
‘I said “but that’s cancer”,’ Hannah said: ‘And she [the medical professional] said, “We’re not saying it is, we’re not saying it isn’t and you’ll, you’ll hear from a referral for Liverpool within the next two weeks.”
‘I walked out and I felt like I’ve been hit by a bus. It was just not what I wanted to see or hear.
‘I was sat on my own and my world fell apart. It was horrible, I was just devastated.
‘It was freezing cold, it was dark, it was windy, it was raining, it was January, at Manchester, so it’s miserable, and it all just spiralled from there.’
‘I was gobsmacked because I felt so full of life.’
She added: ‘Words can’t describe how you feel, I mainly thought, “oh my God, my, my family, my children.”
‘Because I’ve just witnessed my dad go through this and all the gruelling treatments before he passed away.
‘It frightened me because I’ve seen the realisation of what this disease does to a person and to a family.
She continued: ‘I rang my husband to come and get me and he was with me in minutes, and I don’t know how he did it in rush hour.’
The 39-year-old hadn’t been to the opticians in over 24 years, but she quickly booked herself in for an appointment with her local opiticans, and was later delivered life-changing news
‘I didn’t overthink it and I wasn’t worried and I wasn’t frightened. I presumed I’d go and have an eye test and be prescribed, you know, some lenses,’ Hannah said
The mother-of-two was later told she had a tumour behind her right eye and was referred to hospital for an operation
Eventually, nine months later, a second MRI found the cancer had spread to Hannah’s liver, with the only option of immunotherapy which would extend her life just by a ‘matter of months’
The following Monday, the mother-of-two underwent a five-hour operation at The Royal Liverpool University Hospital, where it was confirmed she had a cancerous tumour behind her right eye.
While the procedure was a success, Hannah’s vision has been left ‘extremely distorted’, with a test on the tumour later revealing there was a high risk of the cancer spreading.
Eventually, nine months later, a second MRI found the cancer had spread to Hannah’s liver, with the only option of immunotherapy which would extend her life just by a ‘matter of months’.
‘It just thought, this is it,’ she said: ‘I thought I had more time before I was dealing with this kind of issue. It was a shock, there’s no other word for it.
‘To have to come home and tell my family, my husband,’ she added: ‘He’s a big strong man, but to watch him break…I think I’m just trying to be strong for everybody else, and its not a bad thing, it gives you something to focus on.’
But, there was an alternative treatment, chemosaturation therapy, which could save her life, but it is unfortunately not available on the NHS.
Chemosaturation treatment delivers chemotherapy directly to the liver, and could help the mother-of-two beat the disease, according to Hannah.
‘I was in a state of the art cancer hospital, which we are lucky to have on our doorstep, and they were wonderful with my dad,’ she said.
But, there was an alternative treatment, chemosaturation therapy, which could save her life, but it is unfortunately not available on the NHS (Pictured: Hannah with her mother)
Her doting son, Leo, 11 had even offered to sell his PlayStation to help fund her treatment
‘So to be in this hospital and to be told they can help me, but only if I pay. It was heartbreaking to hear that those were my choices.
According to the 38-year-old, the treatment is available at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust for £46,000 per cycle, of which she could need up to six cycles.
‘I was naive thinking if you had private healthcare, you just got bumped up the list a bit,’ she said: ‘I didn’t realise that you could have treatments that weren’t available.on the NHS.’
However its not only the community that has rallied behind Hannah in her hour of need as she raises funds for the cutting-edge treatment, her ‘resilient’ children have even offered to sell their most prized possessions.
‘They’ve had to grow up very, very quickly,’ she said: ‘They’re wonderful resilient children, but they’re still children.
Tearfully recalling the moment her 11-year-old son Leo offered to sell his PlayStation to help towards funding her chemosaturation treatment, she said: ‘Honestly that was…God, I’ll cry now thinking about it.
‘He was like “I’ll sell this and I’ll sell that, I’ll basically I’ll raid my piggy bank and we’ll see if we’ve got enough money.”
Now the community have banded together in a bid to help Hannah raise funds for her treatment
The mother-of-two has also called for more awareness surrounding eye health (Pictured: Hannah and her two children at a football match)
She added: I’m absolutely blown away with how kind people have been. It just shows there are still very much good people out there who are willing to come together for the community.’
Now, she is calling for heightened awareness surrounding eye health, adding: ‘I just didn’t know a tumour grow in your eye, I didn’t have a clue.
‘I’ve sat in the opticians with my children for the past ten years and I sat watching them have eye tests, and not has an optician asked me if am I up to date with my eye health.
‘if that could be my legacy, for everybody who works in the opticians to check all the parents, grandparents are up to date with their eye health, you know… a life could be saved as as dramatic as it sounds.’
To donate to Hannah’s GoFundMe for her mother’s funeral click here.
