THIS studio portrait could have been the last one taken of 18-month-old Jack Bowen with two beautiful blue eyes.

Behind one, his parents had just been told, lurked a cluster of malevolent cells - retinoblastoma - a rare tumour.

Jack's mum, Rebecca, from Hereford, said: "It was horrendous at the time we were told.

"There was a turn in his eye and it just gradually got worse. I mentioned it to the nurse and she referred me to the eye hospital. We went for several visits but he wouldn't sit still for a normal eye examination, so he was put under anaesthetic.

"That's when it was discovered, just before Christmas 2001. The term retinoblastoma was used. Myself and Shane had never heard it before and thought it was a term for long or short sightedness. When we were told it was a tumour on the back of the eye, the whole world fell apart."

When the family should have been celebrating Christmas at their Kings Acre home and happy news that Rebecca was expecting a second child, little Jack was having tests to confirm his parents' worst fears.

At short notice Jack had to attend a clinic at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, the only centre of excellence for that cancer at the time, and home of the Retinoblastoma Society.

They had two options; chemotherapy or the removal of his eye.

Reluctantly, Shane says, they chose chemotherapy, administered at Birmingham Children's Hospital and the children's ward at Hereford.

With up to three visits to hospitals a week, including at one stage, London, Birmingham and Hereford, brave little Jack, now aged three, completed six courses of chemotherapy.

Unfortunately Rebecca and Shane have discovered their second child, Kieron, aged one, could be susceptible to the same rare cancer.

"The condition can be genetic. They did a blood test on us all but it didn't eliminate Kieron from the chain. He has some of the same DNA as Jack, so he gets checked too."

Fortunately Jack's cancer was caught in its early stages. He will not be among the 40% of children who develop tumours in both eyes. Sometimes the cancer can spread to the brain.

However, more than 80% of children diagnosed eventually have an eye removed. At the moment Jack's tumour is in remission and has been for the past 12 months. His eye has lost its squint. "There is always the chance of it starting up again. If it does it could be a case of having his eye removed," said Rebecca.

It's one of the possibilities she tries not to think about. "We try to block things out. Every visit to the hospital we are very much on edge, very tense. It's the shock of Jack and dealing with the treatment. We have to deal with it day by day."

The brothers now visit London for checks every three months. "This is a small price we have to pay for the fantastic treatment the NHS has and does give us.

"We just want to get it across to parents the importance of getting their children's eyes tested. If we can help other families, we will feel we have given something back," added Rebecca.

Fact File

Some of the symptoms include:

l a 'cats eye' type reflex in a child's eye,

l a clouding on the pupil and

l a persistent squint.

l In a photo an eye with retinoblastoma often doesn't show a 'red eye' response to camera flash.

l The Retinoblastoma Society, the UK charity for childhood eye cancer, is holding a national awareness week from September 14 to 20. Every GP will be sent a poster highlighting symptoms. The week will also be used to raise money for the charity's work and families like Jack's will be spreading the word.

l The Retinoblastoma Society can be contacted on 020 73775578.