The Apple & The Tree

A special episode with Livi Deane

Listen on

Episode notes

This episode is sponsored by Cancer Research UK.

In this special episode we’re in Horsham in West Sussex to meet Livi Deane and her mum, Sarah. Aged just 12, Livi was diagnosed with a rare retinoblastoma, becoming only the second person ever in the UK to have the disease that was over the age of five. Desperate not to lose her eye, Livi went through 16 rounds of chemotherapy and spent a year in remission, but that didn’t stop the cancer and her eye was removed when she was 14. She has spoken about falling into depression following her surgery and as a young teenager Livi said she felt, “very alone, always ill and a few nasty things were said about my appearance.”

But she battled on, grew stronger in herself and began adjusting to life with a prosthetic eye. Livi has spoken about living with impaired vision and a prosthetic eye. She now regularly shares her experiences with children experiencing the same disease and is an ambassador for The Childhood Eye Cancer Trust.

Recently Livi has said, “I feel beautiful without my prosthetic eye and believe others deserve to feel beautiful too.” She’s modelled for Vogue Portugal, Apple and Primark and feels strongly about “normalising body differences.” Her goal, she insists, “is to prevent bullying and help people feel confident in their own skin.”

For more information on the work Cancer Research UK is doing to beat cancer in children and young people, go to cruk.org/children-and-young-people

To get in touch just email [email protected]. You can find us on Instagram and X @appletreepod. Let us know about your family stories!

Presenter: Vogue Williams

Producer: Rob Fitzpatrick

Editing: Chelsey Moore

Production Manager: Vittoria Cecchini

Executive Producer: Jamie East

Music written by Aloysius James and performed by Perry Ap Gwynedd and Lunar Jane

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices