A woman who lost her eye aged four due to a rare cancer was nicknamed “Mike Wazowski” at school - but says she now feels “beautiful”. Katie Elliot, 20, had her right eye removed when she was diagnosed with retinoblastoma – a rare eye cancer – after her mum spotted her pupil changing shape.
Following a year of treatment Katie was given the all-clear aged five, but had to adapt to life without the vision in her right eye. Katie suffered bullying growing up, such as kids calling her the Monsters Inc character “Mike Wazowski”, which led her to cry in the bathroom alone.
She now says the comments have made her “stronger” and didn’t stop her pursuing her horse riding hobby. Despite the change in her depth of perception from losing the vision in her right eye, Katie has competed and won many horse riding competitions - including winning the overall prize at the East Kilbride rural show in 2020. She has worn prosthetic eyes for the last 15 years, but is now finding the confidence to be seen without one – and has signed to a modelling agency.
