Madelyn Doherty had been complaining of blurred vision when looking at the school blackboard so her mother Amanda George booked her in for an eye test.

Mrs George said that with a history of vision impairment in her family, she assumed Madelyn needed glasses.

But when optometrist Gurjeet Rai examined Madelyn she noticed the teenager had swollen optic discs in both eyes and had been haemorrhaging.

‘‘This normally indicates raised intracranial pressure and my first thought was this could be a tumour,’’ Dr Rai said.

‘‘I probed her a little further and she talked about headaches and said she had been vomiting, but she didn’t link all of the things together.’’

Madelyn was sent to an ophthalmologist and then referred to the John Hunter Hospital to see a neurologist.

She underwent an MRI scan and was cleared for a brain tumour but diagnosed with increased fluid around the brain and immediately put on medication and is undergoing treatment.

‘‘Things are a little uncertain at the moment but I am just grateful this was picked up early and she is in treatment,’’ Mrs George said.

‘‘I urge other parents to be vigilant, I am just so glad I went ahead and got her eyes tested, it has made me far more aware.’’