Bal Gill of Britain has a visit to a tourist attraction in Edinburgh to thank for saving her life after a thermal imaging camera there picked up something she says she "would never have known" about otherwise.
Camera Obscura & World Of Illusions
The 41-year-old mother says she was on a holiday with her family in May that turned out to be a life-changing experience.
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A chance visit to Camera Obscura & World Of Illusions was all it took.
"We had been to Edinburgh Castle and on the way down we saw the museum," she wrote in a press release. "While making our way through the floors, we got to the thermal imaging room."
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The thermal imaging room typically just shows families how hot and cold they are, but for Gill, it showed something more going on beneath the surface.
Camera Obscura & World Of Illusions
"As all families do, we entered and started to wave our arms and look at the images created," she wrote. "While doing this I noticed a heat patch (red in color) coming from my left breast."
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"We thought it was odd and having looked at everyone else they didn't have the same."
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"I took a picture and we carried on and enjoyed the rest of the museum."
Back home after the holiday, Gill found the picture and started digging, discovering that thermal imaging cameras are sometimes used by oncologists to detect cancer.
Camera Obscura & World Of Illusions
"At this point, I searched on Google to see what this could mean and I saw a lot of articles about breast cancer and thermal imaging cameras," Gill wrote.
Because cancer cells rapidly multiply, blood flow around an affected area increases, thereby raising the temperature.
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"I made an appointment with the doctor and as it turns out I do have breast cancer, thankfully really early stages. I have now had two surgeries and have one to go to prevent it from spreading."
Gill credits her trip to Camera Obscura with catching her cancer early and saving her life.
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"I just wanted to say thank you," she wrote. "Without that camera, I never would have known. 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."
Camera Obscura's general manager, Andrew Johnson, said he was genuinely moved by Gill's message.
"We did not realise that our Thermal Camera had the potential to detect life-changing symptoms in this way," he said. "We were really moved when Bal contacted us to share her story as breast cancer is very close to home for me and a number of our team."
"It’s amazing that Bal noticed the difference in the image and crucially acted on it promptly."
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"We wish her all the best with her recovery and hope to meet her and her family in the future."
