Credit: Kennedy News & Media
Mom Thought Her Daughter Had A ‘Fear Of The Dark’ – But It Was Something More Sinister
A mom thought her daughter had a ‘fear of the dark,’ however, she later learned it was something much more sinister.
As parents, there’s nothing more instinctive than worrying about your children.
Even small changes in behavior, sleep, or appearance can leave you feeling anxious and unsure.
Sometimes it’s hard to know what’s serious and what’s just a phase, but listening to your instincts and paying attention to the little signs can make all the difference.
Unsettling signs
At first, Antonia Lambert, from South Killingholme, North Lincolnshire, thought her daughter, Delilah-Rose, had developed a fear of the dark, but the situation soon became far more sinister.
It all started in March 2025, when the then-20-year-old noticed her little girl’s pupil in her eye shine white.
Concerned, the mom took her daughter to the opticians, resulting in them being immediately referred to Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby.
Lambert claims the hospital didn’t see anything of concern when they examined her little girl.
Yet in June of the same year, Delilah-Rose was diagnosed with retinoblastoma following an ultrasound and eye examination.
Retinoblastoma is a rare form of cancer that starts as a growth of cells in the retina, which is the light-sensitive lining on the inside of the eye, according to Mayo Clinic. Generally, it affects one eye; however, it can affect both.
It typically occurs in young children, with the diagnosis before age two.
Delilah-Rose eventually had to have her left eye removed after the tumor grew to fill the entire eye socket, and she was later fitted with a permanent prosthetic.
What could have been
Lambert is sharing her daughter’s story to alert other parents to warning signs and to stress the importance of seeking a second opinion.
She also believes that if her daughter’s symptoms had not initially been dismissed, her eye might have been saved.
The mom recalled: “We had a lamp on in our room and one of her pupils looked white. We didn’t think much of it but she started to get wobbly so we took her to get her eyes tested.
“They did an emergency referral to our local hospital but they triaged her and said she wouldn’t be seen for a couple of years.”
She continued: “[A month later], we went back to the opticians and [then] the hospital then got us in a week later. They referred us to Birmingham Hospital as they told us she had a mass behind her left eye.
“The tumour completely filled her eye socket. Before she went in they said there was a chance of laser eye surgery or chemo but when they found the tumour they said it was too big and neither would work.”
Much of Lambert’s frustration was directed at the local hospital, which she felt hadn’t taken her daughter’s eye seriously at first.
She believes that if Delilah-Rose had been seen sooner, the tumor might have been smaller and there might have been a chance to save her eye.
Lambert added: “There were so many emotions at the time and I didn’t know how to feel. I sat and cried for days. I think most of the emotions were more at our local hospital and they had decided it [her eye] wasn’t important enough to look at, at the start and it made me think that it could have been different.
“The tumour might have been smaller if she was seen earlier and they could have potentially saved her eye.”
Hidden discomfort
As Delilah-Rose’s condition progressed, it became clear that her growing fear of the dark was connected to her eyesight.
Before her diagnosis, she often refused to stay in her own room, crying for hours until her mom left a light on or took her out.
Doctors explained that because her vision in that eye was deteriorating, she struggled to see in the dark, which made her frightened and unable to sleep peacefully.
Lambert added: “Before this, she was a great sleeper and would go to bed at 7pm and wake up at 8am without stirring, but by May she wouldn’t sleep in her own room.
“She would also constantly rub her eye which we first thought was tiredness but the pressure in her eye had built up so much it was making it sore. Her left eye was quite red and she’d wake up in the morning and would rub it.”
Trust your instincts
Antonia is now raising awareness so other parents know what signs to look out for and urges them to get their child’s eyes tested if something seems wrong.
She said: “There are things that upset me. She’ll never be able to do some sports even if she wanted to as she hasn’t got her full sight.
“You need to trust your gut and push as much as possible. We didn’t push enough at the start but we kept going and going and she ended up getting her eye removed.
“It’s not massively common. We were told 30 to 40 kids a year in the UK get diagnosed with this. You don’t think it’s going to be you until it is. The opticians don’t really test kids’ eyes under four unless they have concerns but if you do you definitely need to get their sight checked out.”
A spokesperson for NHS Humber Health Partnership said: “We are sorry to hear about the difficulties Miss Lambert and her daughter encountered at Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital earlier this year.
“We would be keen for her to contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service team so we can discuss the issues with her in more detail and to allow us to investigate fully.”
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