Teenager's sight saved by Southampton surgeons after tumour diagnosis

A teenager has undergone two operations to remove a rare, non-cancerous brain tumour and save his sight.

Milo Euling was sent to the emergency eye unit at Southampton General Hospital in October 2021.

An eye test had revealed the optic nerves at the back of his eyes were swollen and squashed.

The hospital performed emergency surgery in November 2021, followed by a second operation in April to remove the remains of the tumour.

Milo returned home to his family in Winchester in June.

Sally Euling, Milo's mother, says he is going study photography at college and "the idea of losing his sight was devastating".

Nijaguna Mathad, a consultant skull base neurosurgeon at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, performed endoscopic endonasal surgery for the second operation, a minimally invasive surgery where the surgeon operates through the nose.

Southampton was one of the first places in the UK to offer the procedure, 15 years ago.

"It was important to try and take as much as the tumour as possible to prevent further complications for Milo," Mr Mathad explained.

Mr Mathad added that the operation went better than expected and the hospital is hoping follow up scans will show the tumour has been completely removed.

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