A BRAVE two-year-old from Winchester, who had an eye removed to save her life, helped launch an appeal for Cancer Research UK on Thursday (February 8).

Isha Tavares was diagnosed with a very rare cancer in her eye last year and needed extensive treatment to save her life.

Now, Isha and her family are urging people in Winchester to use the Leap Year to help beat cancer, which affects one-in-three people in the UK at some stage in their lives.

Cancer Research UK is seizing the opportunity provided by the extra day' on February 29 with the launch of a campaign called Make Today Count.

Isha appeared at the charity's shop in Parchment Street as a shining example of how every contribution can add up to life-saving treatment.

The youngster was diagnosed with retinoblastoma last April, just before her second birthday. Retinoblastoma is a rare type of eye cancer, which affects around 50 children in the UK every year.

Isha had her right eye removed and endured gruelling chemotherapy treatment, which finished at the end of last year. Isha now has an artificial eye and needs daily eye drops and regular antibiotics to fight recurring eye infections.

She also needs constant trips to Southampton General Hospital to control the infections and Isha, who is now in remission, every three months still requires check-ups under a general aesthetic at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London. These will continue until she is seven.

Isha's mum, Ruth Hellard, recalls there were no obvious signs that Isha had cancer.

She said: "I simply went to lift Isha out of her cot and in the artificial light I saw a white light in her right eye. I told my mum about it and she looked really worried. She told me about an article she had seen in a newspaper about a little girl whose pupil looked white in photographs and it turned out she had a rare form of eye cancer."

Ms Hellard acted on Isha's grandmother's concerns and tests confirmed she had several tumours in her right eye.

A white pupil that doesn't reflect light - which most obviously can be seen in photographs taken by flash photography - can indicate cancer.

Ms Hellard, from Gar Street, Winchester, had to make the heartbreaking decision to allow doctors to remove Isha's right eye.

She said: "Although I was devastated I realised that it would save her life. After the surgery to remove her eye, she had to have chemotherapy to ensure that cancer cells, found in her blood, would not spread to any other part of her body."

Isha recently received a Cancer Research UK Little Star Award which recognises the unique challenges faced by children diagnosed with cancer.

Ms Hellard, who nominated her, said: "Isha is a very special little girl. She has been through so much in her life so far, but despite everything she is always smiling and brings so much joy to those around her. She has been so brave and continues to be."

Ms Hellard now wants people in Winchester to join the Cancer Research UK campaign, Make Today Count, to support the charity's life-saving research.

There are four simple ways to take part.

Pop into a Cancer Research UK shops to buy a special Make Today Count pin badge for a suggested donation of £1 and, once in the shop, check out quality donated items for sale at bargain prices.

Make a donation via the Make Today Count website, perhaps the equivalent of an hour's salary.

Use the additional day to host either a breakfast or dinner fundraising party, cooking up delicious healthy food for family and friends who, in return, are asked to make a donation to Cancer Research UK Get together with work colleagues to have an office leap year' quiz, fancy dress day, or get sponsored to swap jobs with the boss.

Donna Goodchild, manager of the Cancer Research UK shop in Parchment Street, Winchester, said: "February 29 provides us all with extra time and we want people to turn this into an opportunity to do something truly worthwhile. It doesn't matter what individuals or groups do on February 29, the idea is just to Make Today Count by supporting the charity's lifesaving work.

"Everyone knows someone who has been affected by cancer and, and though survival rates are improving, there is still a lot more that needs to be done.

"Little Isha is helping us demonstrate how by supporting us, people can make a real difference in the fight against cancer. With more than a quarter of a million people being diagnosed with cancer each year in the UK, it has never been more important for the people of Winchester to join together to beat the disease."

For information on Cancer Research UK's Make Today Count campaign visit www.cancerresearchuk.org/maketodaycount or phone local fundraisers on 08701 602040. For more information about retinoblastoma visit www.chect.org.uk.