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THE ROWER
Nic Cerulus
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In my family, I’m the only confirmed person with albinism.
My parents had to learn over time how to take care of a child with albinism. For the first five months of my life, I was completely blind and wouldn’t react to anything in front of me. My doctors didn’t notice or have an understanding either. But growing up, I was lucky. My parents pushed me to do everything my brothers did. Both of them enjoyed sports and I always felt, “if they’re doing it, I want to do it.” When we were younger, we played everything together like football, hockey and horse riding. The only difference was I had to wear a hat with a flap at the back and I had to keep applying suncream.
For much of my childhood, we moved from place to place. I was born in the US and moved to Malaysia when I was two. Six years later, we moved to Holland. I finally moved to the UK to attend university to complete an undergraduate degree in Aerospace Engineering and now a PhD in Fluid Mechanics. Being in an international set-up and attending international schools, my peers and teachers were very understanding.
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Throughout my life, I’ve had specialist opthalmologists in Singapore and Belgium who have followed my progress. In comparison, free tests I’ve done in the UK have had a lack of understanding about my vision and how to manage my prescriptions. Their priority was more to jump through hoops and get me in and out as quickly as possible. My eyesight also means I am not legally allowed to drive. When I finish my PhD, I had hoped to move back to the US but it’s the kind of country where you need to drive wherever you go.
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