Windsor child battles aggressive eye cancer after parents noticed unusual glare in photo

DENVER ( KDVR ) — Doctors are urging Coloradans to be on the lookout for early signs of cancer in children, including a very glaring sign of a type of aggressive eye cancer. A Windsor child is still alive thanks to early detection and a quick response.

This started in 2020 during the start of the pandemic when parents Melissa and Justin Helfrich took a photo of their 3-month-old son, Christian. In the photo, you can see a white reflective eye against the flash, rather than the typical red glare.

Despite the hospitals only having necessary in-person hospital visits at the time, the Helfrich family decided to bring Christian in for his four-month checkup with concerns about his eye.

“It was a Monday morning at 10 a.m. We were in with a pediatric ophthalmologist, and within an hour or two later we were talking to Dr. Oliver. Thursday, Friday, we had a diagnosis. The following Tuesday, his port got put in. Wednesday, Thursday was chemo. Everything was lightning fast,” said Melissa.

Dr. Scott Oliver, director of the Eye Cancer Program and Retina Service at Children’s Hospital Colorado found six tumors between Christian’s eyes.

“He was really little when I first met him,” said Oliver. “Eventually he came to me, and we figured out he had retinoblastoma.”

According to Children’s, retinoblastoma is a rare and aggressive eye cancer that forms in the retina of children, usually before age five. Christian developed eight more tumors throughout his journey, going under anesthesia more than 25 times and through several rounds of chemotherapy.

“It was pretty surreal. We were basically in survival mode and processing, our adrenaline kicked in,” said Justin.

But, Children’s said the cancer is highly treatable if found early, just like in Christian’s case.

“You can’t know about every bad thing that could happen to your child, but the important part is if something doesn’t seem right, you look into it,” said Oliver.

Christian is a lover of mascots. For his Make-A-Wish, the Helfrich family wanted to celebrate with the community outside of the hospital as much of Christian’s journey was spent inside during the pandemic. Surrounded by the mascots of every Colorado sports team and Oliver, Christian celebrated the end of his treatment this past summer.

“For me, I think the things that I wanted people to understand about this disease was that it was really scary, but this was a celebration as much for Christian as it was for his parents who had been through something really, really hard and now could put it behind them. They had hope, and they are really quite amazing for sharing that hope,” said Oliver.

Children’s said while retinoblastoma is rare, the survival rate in the United States is greater than 95%. Christian lives a normal, active life with the help of glasses to protect his right eye, which compensates for slight vision loss as well.

“That’s the only kind of wish that I think we have as parents is how can we give back? And that’s by educating everyone around us that will listen,” said Melissa.

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