A trip to a popular tourist attraction potentially saved a woman’s life.
Back in May, Bal Gill, who lives in England visited Camera Obscura & World of Illusions in Edinburgh, England with her family while on vacation. Part of the attraction lets visitors see a visual of all their body’s hot spots.
“While making our way through the floors we got to the thermal imaging camera room,” she said. “As all families do, we entered and started to wave our arms and look at the images created.”
While posing the camera, Gill noticed a heat patch red in color coming for her left breast.
“We thought it was odd and having looked at everyone else they didn’t have the same. I took a picture and we carried on and enjoyed the rest of the museum.”
After conducting some research, Gill made an appointment with the doctor and soon found out that she had early-stage breast cancer.
Gill has had two surgeries since the discovery and has one more planned to prevent the cancer from spreading in her body, as reported in People.com.
“I just wanted to say thank you: without that camera, I would never have known,” she said. “I know it’s not the intention of the camera but for me, it really was a life-changing visit. I cannot tell you enough about how my visit to the Camera Obscura changed my life.”
The museum’s general manager, Andrew Johnson, said in a statement that the “potential to detect life-changing symptoms in this way,” and said that the team was “really moved” after hearing Gill’s story.
“It’s amazing that Bal noticed the difference in the image and crucially acted on it promptly,” he said. “We wish her all the best with her recovery and hope to meet her and her family in the future.”
While thermal imaging was a surprise success for Gill, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that it’s no substitute for getting a mammogram because the technology alone may miss the chance to detect cancer at its earliest stage.