It’s been five years since 8-year-old Aisha Iyengar was diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma, a cancer that attacks a person’s eyes and vision.

Five years since the Canyon Country resident went through six rounds of chemotherapy and surgeries that left her without her right eye.

Aisha wears a prosthetic eye to replace her right eye. Cancer has taken about 70 percent of the vision in her left eye.

Even though tests and checkups will always serve as a backdrop to Aisha’s life, the vibrant youngster, who loves to do math and play with her friends, is moving forward.

The Children’s Miracle Network has selected Aisha as an ambassador for this year’s fundraiser known as “A Walk in the Park.” She is the first Santa Clarita Valley resident to be chosen for the role.

“She’s such a remarkable and uplifting little girl,” said Joanne Reyes, director of the Children’s Miracle Network at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

The fundraiser is scheduled June 19 at Six Flags Magic Mountain.

“It’s a really short walk, but it’s very, very meaningful,” Reyes said.

The opportunity will give Aisha a chance to show that “even despite something as traumatic as retinoblastoma, you can still have a meaningful, wonderful and normal childhood.”

In October 2003, Aisha was diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma one week after her third birthday.

“It just came as a complete shock,” Aisha’s mother, Christina Iyengar, recalled.

Despite being cancer-free for five years, Iyengar said, her daughter continues the battle as Aisha has to undergo tests to monitor her progress and make visits to the hospital.

Iyengar has watched her daughter develop unreasonable fears and symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Her biggest fear is getting blood drawn,” she said.

Caused by a tumor, retinoblastoma is typically diagnosed between birth and 4 years old, according to research from The Vision Center at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.

If it isn’t caught early enough, it can spread to both eyes and even into the optic nerve and brain.

Parents can often detect retinoblastoma by looking through photographs of their children, said Dr. A. Linn Murphree, director of the Retinoblastoma Program.

Often times, infants and children have a white glow or glint in the pupil of one or both eyes in photos, he said. This often happens in place of “red eye.”

At the doctor’s office, children can go through red reflex screening and dilation of the pupils to test for the cancer.

“It saves people’s lives,” Iyengar said.