Article Options

Governor signs eye cancer bill

BY BECKY MALKOVICH
THE SOUTHERN

Saturday, August 20, 2005 2:58 PM CDT

MARION - Ryan Palmer is not faster than a speeding bullet, nor is he more powerful than a locomotive. He cannot leap tall buildings in a single bound.

Nonetheless, the 4-year-old Marion boy is a hero in the eyes of Rep. John Bradley, D-Marion.

"When I was a little kid, I had a lot of different heroes: Superman, Batman. When you get older, you don't think about heroes as much," Bradley said. "But I've got a new hero in Ryan Palmer, a young man who has not only beaten cancer, but has also used his experience to help other little boys and girls."

Palmer, the son of Andrea and Grayson Palmer and twin brother of Austin, was diagnosed with a rare form of eye cancer when he was just 15 months old. The cancer was discovered by a fluke after Ryan's grandmother noticed an oddity in a photo of the then-toddler. In the picture, one of Ryan's eyes had a classic case of "redeye" while the other appeared an eerie white.

Ryan's grandmother, Janice Marks, recalled a similar story in an Ann Landers column on eye cancer. Marks passed on the information to her daughter.

Months of chemotherapy and laser treatments followed. Today, Ryan is cancer-free with perfect vision. But he did not leave his experiences with the potentially fatal cancer behind. Instead, he and his family embarked on a journey to raise awareness about eye disease and try to make sure that no other child risks eyesight or life because of lack of information.

About a year ago, the family approached Bradley about their mission, which soon became his mission. And Friday, after months of hard work, Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed into law a bill introduced by Bradley that will take steps to help detect eye diseases in newborns before the diseases become fatal.

Ryan and Adamin's Law, named after Palmer and another child, creates the Newborn Eye Pathology Act, which establishes a committee of medical professionals to develop procedures for detecting pediatric congenital eye abnormalities.

The new law, effective immediately, requires hospitals to report the detection of any abnormalities to the state Department of Public Health, which must regularly monitor the reports, Bradley said.

beckym@onecliq.net

(618) 927-5633