Teen discovers her 'black eye' is actually rare cancer (2025)

Daraine Cunningham's primary school teacher noticed her 'swollen' left eye when she was just nine years old but GPs blamed it on her having migraines.

A teen wore fake eyelashes to hide a 'black eye' that she claims doctors dismissed as normal for a decade - only to discover it was a sign she had a rare form of cancer. Daraine Cunningham's primary school teacher noticed her 'swollen' left eye when she was just nine years old, but GPs apparently blamed it on her having migraines.

The 19-year-old says its dark colour made people think it was a 'black eye' and she just assumed it was 'her flaw' because 'everyone is different'. Doctors told her at age 14 they believed she had a 'harmless' lesion behind the eye and put her on an non-urgent operation waiting list.

'Insecure' Daraine said she began wearing large fake eyelashes to hide her eye and was even forced to reassure nightclub bouncers it was not a black eye. The lesion was finally removed on February 24 but on March 26 doctors revealed they'd tested it and found it was cancerous. Upon being diagnosed with the cancer called alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS) the 'distraught' teen walked out of her appointment.

She's decided against chemotherapy or radiotherapy and has chosen to have her eye removed in June to be replaced by a prosthetic eye 'identical' to her other one.

Daraine, from Manchester, said: "I went to the doctors and they were just telling me it was the migraines. I just assumed that everybody's got something different about them and this is just my flaw.

"It could have been a defect or something from birth, I don't know. I was always very insecure about it and I'd do anything to cover it up. I'd wear big false eyelashes.

"The thing I was told the most was, 'have you got a black eye?' At first it annoyed me and I was sick of hearing it but then I was so used to it I'd just laugh because it did look like a black eye. I used to go to a nightclub and when I was showing my ID I'd say, 'I've not got a black eye, I don't know what's wrong with it'. I used to joke about it and I never ever really thought it could be cancer. Nobody ever did.

"I thought most people suffer from migraines so I never really thought that was linked to my eye. I always used to think it was because I was dehydrated but even when I drank enough water they didn't seem to go away.

"Every now and again I'd get a little sharp stabbing pain in my eye but it would literally be there for a second and then it would go away. They (the doctors) said they didn't have to operate on it but they could, just to make me feel better because I was quite insecure about it. It made me feel quite ugly."

Daraine said that, in addition to her swollen eye, she also experienced frequent migraines up to five times a week but thought she was just dehydrated. She says doctors prescribed her beta blockers but she said these did not help.

In the five years that unemployed Daraine was waiting for her operation, she went for a couple of check-ups a year to monitor lesion's growth. She admits she still cries about her upcoming operation but is coming to terms with the reality of losing one of her eyes.

Daraine said: "I was over the moon when I finally had the operation but then they tested it and found out it was cancerous. I was quite distraught and I walked out as soon as I heard the word cancer.

"Especially with me only being 18 at the time, it was a lot. In this generation, your looks are everything. I'm coming to terms with it more now because in the end (the operation) is better for me.

"I'm accepting it but then some days I cry. It comes and goes in waves. I need to have it removed for my own sake or it could damage my future. I didn't want to give chemo a go because my grandad had cancer and he had chemo and he's not here anymore so I thought, 'I'm not even chancing it'.

Daraine is warning others to make sure their abnormalities and symptoms get checked out. She said: "If you notice anything unusual, get it checked. It could save your life. Don't let anything go unnoticed, anything small, keep pushing through with the doctors, hospitals, keep trying. Don't let them fob you off."

WHAT IS ALVEOLAR SOFT PART SARCOMA (ASPS)?

The NHS describes soft tissue sarcoma as a rare type of cancer that starts in soft tissue, such as muscle and fat. According to cancer charity Sarcoma UK, ASPS can occur anywhere throughout the body.

There are an average of six cases of ASPS diagnosed annually in England and ASPS makes up 0.15 per cent of all soft tissue sarcomas.