Family rocked at baby's diagnosis after sudden bruise on eye 'gets bigger and bigger'

The bruise on Harper Walker's eye got bigger and bigger and so concerned parents, Jenny Huddart and dad Adam Walker, took her to see a doctor in Salford, Greater Manchester

Parents were "left numb" after their baby was diagnosed with a rare cancer - spotted after a bruise appeared on her eye.

Harper Walker's parents were told the 16-month-old tot has Neuroblastoma, a condition which affects around only 100 children per year.

It is stage four, high risk, with cancer metastases in multiple locations across her body.

The baby is currently undergoing an 18-month course of treatment with chemotherapy and surgery, but further pioneering treatment at Sloan Kettering cancer centre in New York would increase her chances of survival to between 60 to 70 per cent.

The treatment alone for this costs more than £280,000 with multiple trips over to the US needed for this, Manchester Evening News reports.

Jenny Huddart, Harper's mother, said: "It was as if it wasn't happening (when Harper was diagnosed). We felt numb. We started Googling things even though you're not supposed to and saw the stats for this which aren't great.

"Apparently it's something that originally grows while she was a foetus, but there was no way of knowing about it until the little bruise appeared.

"We were told by people who've been doctors in this area for 33 years that they've never seen it present like this, we knew something wasn't right when it started to move her eye. It's just awful."

A bruise appeared on Harper's eye and got progressively bigger earlier this year.

Jenny and Harper's dad Adam Walker initially thought the mark must have come from a minor accident when playing with a toy as Harper was becoming more mobile.

But when the bruise started to push her eye out of shape, the parents-of-five knew something was wrong.

"We noticed in mid-February a little black dot near her eye but because she had been starting to move around more we thought she'd just hit herself with a toy.

"It started changing a bit but we thought maybe she had just rubbed it. But, then we noticed her eye starting to move up, like she had a lazy eye, and we took her to the doctors."

Jenny, from Salford, Greater Manchester, took her daughter to Manchester Eye Hospital for tests on Good Friday.

"On the Monday we got the phone call from the doctor asking us to go in where we were told they had found a lump in her sinuses," Jenny added.

"Then a biopsy confirmed and we were told Harper had stage four cancer. Further tests showed it was an aggressive form of Neuroblastoma."

While Harper will receive stem cell treatment and radiotherapy as part of her treatment in the UK, her parents are desperate to secure the USA treatment.

Adam set-up a JustGiving page on Sunday, where they are aiming to raise up to £300,000 to help fund this potentially life-saving treatment. In this short space of time it has raised nearly £13,000 with Jenny saying the family are "overwhelmed" by the support they have received so far.

"We reached out and spoke to someone who has gone through this too and they have been so helpful. But, they said you have to travel out a lot as well as the costs of the care so it is very expensive, but we want to give Harper the best chance we possibly can," she said.

Jenny added: "It's just heart-breaking. She's a dead happy child who's always smiling. We really want to give her the best chance to fight this.

"Over the past month we've only had six nights at home, with the rest of the time at the Manchester Children's Hospital. The staff and everyone there have been absolutely amazing and all the parents there help each other out. The people are just wonderful.

"It's been very difficult for the whole family, especially Harper's three brothers and sister. It's very unsettling for them, being in and out of hospital. But, we're trying to be as positive as possible for them, not going into the full extent of what is going on yet.

"The doctors have been really pleased with how it's gone so far so we're trying to be positive as possible with the kids. We're just all still coming to terms with it really, taking each day as it comes, there are good and bad days.

"We've just got to hope and pray."

To read and keep up with the full fundraiser, visit the Just Giving page here.

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