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Coats disease can lead to total vision loss. Photo via rzdeb. The risk of posting pictures of your kids online is the potential for busybodies to voice a well meaning, but sometimes misguided, concern. For a 3-year-old Memphis, Tenn. toddler, Rylee, those busybodies may have saved the tot’s eyesight.
Friends of a proud mom who posted her daughter’s photo on Facebook urged her to get her daughter’s eyes checked due to a bright yellow spot on the child’s eye which showed up in the picture (below). The concerns eventually lead to Rylee being diagnosed with a serious and chronic eye disease.
The discovery happened after friends Tara Taylor, Rylee’s mother, noticed a large bright light in Rylee’s left eye which was made prominent by the camera flash. The flash inconsistency would likely go unnoticed by most people but for two of Tara’s friends, it caused concern.
Just to be safe, Taylor decided to take her daughter to her pediatrician who referred Rylee to a specialist. Rylee was later diagnosed with Coat’s disease which can cause partial or complete vision loss. In later stages, there is little that can be done to save the eye.
According to CLTV, Taylor said that there were no indications that little Rylee was having trouble seeing.
Taylor explained, “She didn’t sit close to the TV. She is actually in gymnastics and can walk on the balance beam.”
According to Dr. Jorge Calzada with the Charles Retina Institute, this is why it’s difficult to determine if toddlers or babies are having trouble seeing.
Rylee is currently being treated at a state of the art eye center in Tennessee. Lucky for Rylee, Coat’s disease can be treated if caught early enough.