Baby monitor's black-eye glow helped mum spot daughter's rare eye cancer in time

From the Newshound archive · first published 28 September 2026 · last updated 29 September 2026.

Kristen Draime, 29, noticed on the baby monitor that three-year-old daughter Miley's left eye appeared entirely black while the right reflected light normally, and she immediately connected this to retinoblastoma — a rare childhood eye cancer she had recently looked up online. Surgeons at Cleveland Clinic's Cole Eye Institute found the tumour had consumed nearly all of Miley's eye, leaving no option but removal. The Cleveland, Ohio, family had previously put Miley's wandering eye down to a lazy eye, with a routine ophthalmologist appointment still months away.

A distinctive white glow in Miley's eye during bath time had first raised Kristen's concern — a recognised warning sign of retinoblastoma.

Ocular oncologist Arun Singh was brought in on a Sunday and told the family the tumour had progressed too far for the eye to be saved.

Kristen has since spoken out so that other parents understand a black or glowing eye on a baby monitor can be an indicator of the rare cancer.