“My name is Stefan and I was born in 1979. At the age of 9 months, I was diagnosed with unilateral retinoblastoma and my left eye was removed. My parents “discovered” it – because of the white pupil in many photos.
Like many other people with RB, I have no conscious memory of living with both eyes and therefore don’t immediately miss anything.

I spent my childhood essentially no differently than any other child – with a large sports field and a wooded area behind the house, I was quite easy to find – either at the sports field or somewhere in the woods or by the nearby river.
In addition to soccer, my hobbies also included skiing, cycling, swimming and running.
I also love taking photos.

There were difficult moments during puberty – it would certainly have helped me back then to know other people affected, but that was a bit more difficult 20 years ago than it is today.
However, the possibilities of a networked world and initiatives like KAKS offer great opportunities for contact.
In addition to a small but close circle of friends, which I still maintain today, my girlfriend and now wife also gave me support and security back then.

Like many of the other encouragers here, I overcome the small challenges of everyday life with our own solutions, such as putting the wine bottle on the glass before pouring it or looking over my shoulder particularly carefully when driving.

My illness only really came into focus for me in the last 5 years – when the topic of family planning became topical and I informed myself thoroughly about risks and possible dangers and learned and experienced a lot for myself in the process.
This also led to many contacts with parents and organizations such as the Austrian Children’s Cancer Aid or KAKS.
The RB meeting in 2015 was also something completely new and deeply impressive for me.

There have always been moments when I realize that I only have one eye.
But I’ve never let that stop me.”

Stefan
Encourager