Denvah Finlay was diagnosed with retinoblastoma after tumours were found behind her eyes
Kristy Dawson Multi-Media Journalist
00:27, 22 Nov 2025
Denvah Finlay (Image: Chronicle Live)
The parents of a one-year-old girl have been left heartbroken after a squint in her eye turned out to be a rare eye cancer. Little Denvah Finlay was diagnosed with retinoblastoma after tumours were found behind her eyes.
Her mam Gemma, 42, and dad Paul, 45, from Hetton-le-Hole, Sunderland, have been told that she has already lost vision in her right eye. Medics are now fighting to save Denvah’s life as well as the sight in her left eye.
The youngster, who turned one at the end of October, is being treated by specialists at Birmingham Children’s Hospital in Birmingham. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy at the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI) in Newcastle.
Denvah has been diagnosed with retinoblastoma(Image: Chronicle Live)
Gemma, who works as a health and wellbeing practitioner, said: “We’re just absolutely heartbroken. She’s so small and so innocent and she’s so perfect.
“To think that there’s something so sinister and evil going on in her little eyeball which is not only threatening her sight but also her life – there’s no words that can actually describe the feeling of that.
“My heart is actually hurting. My chest hurts. I can’t breath sometimes when I look at her. Her dad’s pretty much the same. He’s like what has happened? Why? Our emotions are changing by the minute and we just have to deal with them.
Denvah with her parents and her three older brothers (Image: Chronicle Live)
“We had never even heard of retinoblastoma. When they told us we were like what on earth? What is this?
“It’s so rare. You would just never think that a squint in a baby could potentially be eye cancer.
“We think how are we going to navigate through this? But we’ve got to do it for Denvah and for our other three children as well. We can’t just lie down and cry, we have got to be strong and positive for them.
“We’re still taking things in and learning things everyday.”
Denvah is undergoing chemotherapy at the RVI in Newcastle (Image: Chronicle Live)
Gemma and Paul, who works as a bricklayer, are also parents to Maverick, three, and Gemma is mum to Strand, 17, and Davis, 15. They initially spotted what they thought was a squint in Denvah’s eye on August 31 this year
Gemma attended a doctor’s appointment for the following day and asked to be referred to Sunderland Eye Infirmary. She said: “I took her to the doctors on September 1 as we could see a squint in her eye.
“The doctor couldn’t really see it, she said ‘I don’t think there’s anything there’. I said her two brothers wore glasses and could she be referred to the eye infirmary.
“We went to the eye infirmary on the 10th November and they found tumours in both of Denvah’s eyes. We were in Birmingham by the 14th November.
“They confirmed that she’s most likely blind in her right eye already and her eye ball would to be removed and a prosthetic one fitted. Then we came to the RVI to start her chemotherapy.
Gemma and Paul with Denvah(Image: Chronicle Live)
“It’s all happened massively fast. To call it a whirlwind would be an understatement but I’m so grateful and thankful for how fast it’s moving.”
Following her diagnosis, Denvah was given general anaesthetic while doctors performed a lumber puncture, a bone marrow biopsy and an MRI scan. She has also undergone the first of six round of chemotherapy.
Gemma said: “She’s happy, mischievous and boisterous. She’s got three big brothers so she likes to play rough. She’s not a tiny, timid little thing, she liked to have a good old rough and tumble but she can’t do that at the moment.
“She’s got lines in and fluid being put into her body. She’s been walking around the wards. She’s made such an impression on the ward already.
“She’s absolutely worn out. She’s trying her hardest and we have got to try out hardest as well.”
Paul holding Maverick and Gemma holding Denvah(Image: Chronicle Live)
Gemma has created a Facebook page called ‘Denvah’s Diary’ in the hope of sharing her story and raising awareness of the condition. She has urged parents to check their children’s eyes and take pictures of their children with the flash on.
She said: “Normally the pupils are whole so when you take a photo they look red or the brain absorbs the light. But when a child has retinoblastoma it looks white – that’s the tumour. It reflects off the light rather than absorbing the light.”
Gemma has also urged parents to push for help if they think something is wrong with their child.
A fundraising page has been launched to help the family cover day to day costs while Denvah is undergoing treatment. More than £8,100 has already been donated to the Go Fund Me page.
ChronicleLive has created a dedicated WhatsApp community for Sunderland news. You can join this WhatsApp community here. It will keep you up-to-date with Sunderland news as it breaks, sent directly to your phone.