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Illinois mom takes photo of son, learns he has cancer

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WISH) – An Illinois mother saved her 2-year-old son’s life after examining a picture she took of him on her cellphone.

About two months ago, Julie Fitzgerald noticed her youngest son Avery had something in the back of his eye when she looked at him in a certain light.

Fitzgerald told WREX that she turned to the Internet for more answers. She read a story of a woman who took a photo of a relative and saw white in the pupil of an eye instead of red. The family member ended up having cancer.

Fitzgerald turned to her husband after reading the story, but he said it was probably nothing. She ended up taking a photo of her son with her cellphone and his entire pupil was white.

Fitzgerald then took her son to see a doctor, where she learned her son had retinoblastoma.

“He took one look and said there are multiple, multiple tumors,” Fitzgerald said.

Doctors told Fitzgerald if they would have waited longer, the cancer could have spread to his brain and blood. Avery will have to get a prosthetic eye. His family believes that for now, Avery is cancer-free.

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WREX.com – Rockford’s News Leader