A mum discovered the shocking news she had cancer by chance after accidentally spraying perfume in her eye.
Carol Player went to hospital to get checked after she sprayed the fragrance in her face and lost some of her vision in one eye.
Doctors then referred Carol, 56, to St Paul’s Eye Hospital in Liverpool who told her she actually had Ocular Melanoma, one of the most common types of eye cancer.
The perfume did not cause cancer - but in an extraordinary turn of events it was the accident that led doctors at St Paul's to take a closer look at Carol's eyes and discover the disease, reports the Liverpool Echo.
The 56-year-old, who lives in Sutton Coldfield, said: “The professor at St Paul’s diagnosed my cancer on Monday and my eye was removed on Tuesday morning.
“I was then told no further treatment was needed at that time.”
Sadly, in November 2019, after almost five years of being cancer-free, doctors found cancerous spots on Carol’s liver.
Surgeons removed part of her liver, however three months later a follow-up scan revealed it had travelled to other areas in her liver.
Doctors decided the best treatment for Carol would be a trial drug called Delcath Melferlan Chemosaturation, which has proven to be very successful for her type of cancer.
Carol and her family were then hit with another devastating blow when the treatment she was due to get free on the NHS, as part of a fully-funded clinical trial, was cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
And now the family has been left with no other option but to try and raise the funds themselves.
The mum-of-two, who also has two grandchildren, said: “I’ve got too much to lose, I need to stay alive.
“The drug has proven to be so successful in prolonging people’s lives but I might not get that chance now.”
Carol has had to cash in all of her pension to try and raise money to fund her treatment and her son, Adam, has started a GoFundMe page to try and raise £160,000 needed to cover the cost.
Each treatment will cost £40,000 but it’s possible Carol may need several to help get the result she needs to prolong her life.
Despite everything that has happened to her, Carol praised the NHS hospitals in Liverpool for what they have done to try and save her.
She said: “I want to say the service I’ve had from the NHS has been amazing.
“Particularly the service I’ve had from St Paul’s Eye Hospital to all my MRI scans which were in Clatterbridge, and the surgery to remove part of my liver was done in Aintree Hospital.
“All the Liverpool hospitals have been amazing.
"I don’t know what I would have done without them.”
You can donate towards the cost of Carol’s treatment on son Adam's Gofundme page by clicking here.
