Meet our ambassadors

Eye cancer is a global disease and there are not enough ocular oncologists in the world. The role of an Ambassador to the Victoria Cohen Eye Cancer Charitable Trust is to raise awareness of eye cancer and the charity, and to coordinate fundraising.

Georgia Hall

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I was diagnosed and treated for uveal melanoma (a type of melanoma in the eye) in my early thirties. Uveal melanoma is a rare and aggressive cancer that afflicts approximately 5 in a million with a propensity for those in their 60s and 70s.

Luckily, my eye was saved through the expert treatment of my ocular oncologist in Sydney with a specialised type of radiation. Like all cancers, the earlier the detection and treatment, the better the prognosis. This is especially important for uveal melanoma, which has a propensity to spread and suffers from a lack of treatment options as a rare and unique cancer.

We have a shortage of ocular oncologists in this world. It’s a specialised field that is expensive and time consuming to train in. In New South Wales alone, an Australian state larger than the size of Texas, we have two practicing ocular oncologists. Patients have to travel far and wide for diagnosis and treatment. We can do better than this.

This is why I am the Australasian Ambassador for the Victoria Cohen Eye Cancer Charitable Trust (VCECCT). The VCECCT offers aspiring ocular oncologists a springboard to kick off their careers to treat people like me and ultimately save lives, eyes and vision.

Howard Lloyd

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In 2022, when Nick Rapley, Victoria’s husband, invited me to become the VCECCT Ambassador for Europe, I didn’t need asking twice. I did however ask how someone in my profession (live events Creative Director) could possibly contribute to evolving the charity, coming from my background!?

The very questions of backgrounds and professions are ones that all of us current VCECCT Ambassadors have openly discussed. Firstly, we are united by having benefitted from ocular cancer care. Secondly, by having variations in our backgrounds, nationalities, and approaches to life, these differing factors contribute heavily to the tangible outcomes of VCECCT. This is very important to understand when considering becoming a VCECCT Ambassador.

It is not about your background. It is about your ability to communicate, to be inventive, creative, to always be altruistic, and not be shy to table any idea that you think might benefit the charity and create opportunities for its recipients in many ways. Eye cancers are rare. Up until I was diagnosed and treated by Victoria over a decade ago, I had never even heard of them! Most people haven’t. But they are on the increase, and there are simply not enough ocular oncologists to address the global demand.

John Bird

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I am extremely proud to be an ambassador of the VCECC Trust. Having undergone successful eye surgery for ocular melanoma in 2003 I would like to express my gratitude in a tangible way. Thanks to regular surveillance as a patient of Victoria Cohen, twenty years on I continue to lead a full and active life, driving, cycling, swimming and even playing squash. I’m a retired Banker and looking to contribute in any way which may help to save lives and the sight of others who have been affected by cancer of the eye.

Abby Vidler

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I was the first patient of Victoria’s who underwent a sentinel lymph node biopsy for conjunctival melanoma of a mole in the plica when I was just 12 years old, I also had a wide local excision and adjuvant cryotherapy to remove the tumour. This melanoma was so rare that I was believed to be the youngest person in the world that they knew about at that time. Fast forward 15 years later, I have had 13 minor surgeries to remove 12 moles on my body and I will continue to be monitored by the Ocular Oncology Department at Moorfields Eye Hospital and the Dermatology Department at Croydon University Hospital for the rest of my life. I decided to become an Ambassador for the Victoria Cohen Eye Cancer Charitable Trust as without eye surgeons like Victoria I would not be here and I want to help raise awareness and funding for aspiring ocular oncologists in her honour to ensure people’s lives, like mine, are saved.

Mohammad Al Omari

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I am originally from Jordan and working in Healthcare where we firmly believe in the importance of early diagnosis and preventive medicine and the impact it has on our wellbeing.

After I was diagnosed with Choroidal melanoma in 2017, and went through a painful journey to look for an ocular oncologist in my region, and without a hope I considered traveling abroad and fortunately had my operation with Mrs. Victoria Cohen (God bless her soul). This is where I realized how important it is to be diagnosed correctly, get some answers, and trust your doctor. I also realized that eyes are not taken seriously within our checkup routines.

In 2022, I was approached by Nick and Georgia to support a genuine purpose towards raising awareness, increasing the number of ocular oncologists, and saving more people from this type of cancer which has a high treatment rate if it gets caught early (similar to other types of cancer). This is why I am proud to be part of this great team and being an Ambassador for the Victoria Cohen Eye Cancer Charitable Trust (VCECCT).