1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,880 I remember I was five years old. I had problems with my eye. I went to the 2 00:00:08,880 --> 00:00:13,360 doctor with my mum, but the diagnosis was wrong as they said it was lazy eye 3 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:20,560 syndrome. At the Center for Child Health they said it was cancer 4 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:26,680 situating in my optic nerve and that the operation could deform me, deform my face. 5 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:32,880 The operation wouldn't have been so frightening if it hadn't been done by a 6 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:37,480 doctor from abroad. He came over because he had experience in these kinds of 7 00:00:37,480 --> 00:00:49,280 operations. It was too expensive for my mum to stay in London. It cost around 8 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:57,920 600 pounds per day and we couldn't afford to do it there. When we sold the 9 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:07,240 house it was just enough for the surgeon who came to Poland from abroad. 10 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:14,320 As for my eye, it stopped reacting to light. Since the optic nerve was cut my 11 00:01:14,320 --> 00:01:19,960 pupil no longer responded to light. The right side of my face was swollen after 12 00:01:19,960 --> 00:01:33,080 the surgery. I was 11 years old when I had another operation. My mum was 13 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:39,360 really frightened before this one, but I kept telling her nothing would happen. 14 00:01:44,360 --> 00:01:53,400 I was wrong because after this operation I had problems with my memory. They hurt 15 00:01:53,400 --> 00:02:00,080 my eye muscles, so my eyelid became droopy and the brain liquid leaked into 16 00:02:00,080 --> 00:02:07,360 my body. My body was in pain and it took me a long time to become well again. 17 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:15,680 My schoolmates reacted in a very strange way to my new look. 18 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:27,560 They looked at me as if I was strange. They laughed at me, but they were also 19 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:34,600 afraid of me and the first nicknames appeared. They called me Cyclops, Sickie. 20 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:41,520 I was very disappointed with them. I felt more sadness from the lack of 21 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:45,040 understanding of my schoolmates than from my disease. 22 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:59,040 So I got help from my mum and from my close family, from my mum and my sister. 23 00:02:59,040 --> 00:03:05,280 They told me that although I'm different, I still am who I am. 24 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:12,400 They kept me strong and thanks to them I have a very strong character today. 25 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:25,000 When I was 16 I got pregnant after my first time and I decided to keep the baby, 26 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:32,440 my little sweetheart, because I couldn't imagine hurting such a small life inside me. 27 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:44,600 In a way I was lucky because who knows if I could ever have a child again or if I'll 28 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:47,200 meet someone who would like to have children with me. 29 00:03:56,000 --> 00:04:02,000 I work as a volunteer with children who suffer from diseases, not just cancer. 30 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:10,000 As I know what children can feel and what kind of help they need. 31 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:24,000 I live as I live. I'm optimistic about the world and people. 32 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:29,000 The most important thing is I've met people who treat me very well, 33 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:36,000 who have been with me from the beginning of this illness and we still see each other now. 34 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:44,000 I have the people I need around me and I don't need to have a lot of friends, two or three are enough. 35 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:52,000 The illness I went through gave me a lot of life experience. 36 00:04:52,000 --> 00:05:03,000 I look at life from a totally different perspective today, not at the fun, drugs or alcohol side of it. 37 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:09,000 I just want to have a family, finish school and find a good job. 38 00:05:19,000 --> 00:05:23,000 I wish that children would never have to suffer like I did.