‘It was bulging’: a hidden killer lurked behind this baby’s eye

Doctors thought 1-year-old Sophia just had conjunctivitis. Days later, she was diagnosed with cancer behind her eye.

When Liz Burfitt looked at her baby girl, she knew something was wrong.

Thirteen-month-old Sophia had always been perky but was suddenly extremely lethargic. As Ms Burfitt looked closer at her daughter, her stomach turned. Sophia’s left eye was bulging.

Doctors originally dismissed her concerns as conjunctivitis, then later dehydration. Still, something nagged at Liz.

“I had this sinking feeling that whatever this was, it wasn’t going to go away on its own,” said Ms Burfitt. Hoping for the best, but fearing the worst, she pushed for further examination.

Ms Burfit’s motherly instincts were correct – Sophia had cancer.

A huge mass sat behind Sophia’s eye, with tests revealing a rare germ cell yolk sac tumour – normally found in the reproductive organs of older people.

Sophia Burfitt is admitted to hospital for the first time. Picture: Liz Burfitt

The memory of Sophia’s diagnosis haunts Ms Burfitt and her husband Pat.

“It’s funny, it [the diagnosis] was only a couple of minutes but time just went so slowly. And I remember thinking when I saw the little dot [the mass] … okay, that could be removed by surgery.

“And then they zoomed deeper and deeper and it was just this spiderweb all throughout the left side of her face. And that at that point we just, you know, we really didn‘t know if she could be cured.

“It was horrific, easily the worst week of our lives … we knew there was a mass but we didn‘t know if there was a treatment and what it was.

“It turns out it was really one of the rarest. I think it was only one of a few cases ever in Australia,“ Ms Burfit said.

Sophia Burfitt receives treatment for rare germ cell yolk sac tumour (extra gonadal) – normally found in the reproductive organs of older people. Picture: Supplied

Sophia faced the biggest battle of her life. During five months of treatment, the infant faced extreme nausea, hair loss and night terrors. She learnt to walk, clutching the IV pole of her chemotherapy.

Sophia Burfitt learnt to walk holding onto her IV pole, while receiving chemotherapy at The Children‘s Hospital at Westmead Picture: Supplied

For Ms and Mr Burfitt, watching their baby girl silently suffer was one of the hardest things.

Too young to speak and unable to express her fear, Sophia ‘became like a newborn again’, crying throughout the night.

Today, Sophia is a happy and healthy two and half-year-old who adores her younger brother Hamish and “is convinced she can surf”.

Pat and Liz Burfitt in Mona Vale with their kids Sophia, 2, and 11-month old Hamish. Doctors said Sophia had conjunctivitis, but it was cancer growing behind her eye. Picture: Tim Hunter

Since her experience, Sophia and the Burfitt family have become advocates for cancer research, with Sophia the face of the Australian Cancer Research Foundation‘s March Appeal, which aims to raise vital funds for cancer research projects and give more families the same chance as Sophia’s.

According to Ms Burfitt, research is one of the only reasons her daughter is here today.

“It‘s the only thing that’s different between the child that survives and dies.”