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INSIDE EDITION SPEAKS WITH THE TAMPA FAMILY WHOSE DAUGHTERS EYE DISEASE WAS DIAGNOSED ONLINE

Airdate: Monday, September 15, 2008

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New York, NY - September 15, 2008 - Megan and Mark Santos, the parents of one-year-old Rowan, speak with INSIDE EDITION about the online eye diagnosis that saved their daughter's life.

Last month, the Santos' noticed a photograph of their daughter in which the camera's flash exposed a baffling glow in Rowan's left eye that was only visible in the photo.

MEGAN SANTOS: "Through the naked eye you could not see anything. Honestly, I didn't notice it. We thought for sure, ‘Oh this is just a camera thing.'"

During her pregnancy, Megan frequently logged on to a website called Babyfit.com, an international chat club for expecting moms. She decided to post the mysterious photo online hoping for advice.

Madeline Robb, a mother in Manchester, England, who would chat with Megan Santos on the same website, saw the photo and became concerned.

ROBB: "I saw the picture and a strange glow in her left eye and that didn't seem right to me.

Robb, whose daughter Lilith was born the same day as Rowan, decided to email the Santos' to tell them about her neighbor, whose child had a rare and aggressive form of eye cancer.

ROBB: "I hoped there wasn't anything wrong obviously, but if there was something wrong, no question I had to tell her."

Megan Santos describes to INSIDE EDITION her alarm when she got the email from Robb.

MEGAN SANTOS: "It was sheer panic. We were terrified she might lose her eye, then within a matter of hours it went from that to losing her life."

Robb's concerns were correct, and doctors confirmed that Rowan had retinoblastoma, a disease so rare, only 250 cases occur in U.S. births each year, and it can be fatal.

The Santos' tell INSIDE EDITION they credit Robb for saving Rowan's life.

MARK SANTOS: "It's just awe inspiring that we were able to catch it thanks to the help of someone we hardly knew and had never met."

Megan Santos says she shares a lifesaving bond with Madeline Robb and tells INSIDE EDITION she is thankful to have Robb in her life.

MEGAN SANTOS: "Rowan is lucky, and we're all lucky to have you in our lives."

Baby Rowan is now receiving chemotherapy. Though she will probably lose her left eye, Rowan's long-term prognosis is good.

INSIDE EDITION is produced daily at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City and produced and distributed by CBS Television Distribution, a unit of CBS Corp.  

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