Man raises awareness about rare cancer with soccer-themed prosthetic eye

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Aging Untold) — Ryan Gibson faced an unexpected choice after losing his right eye to ocular melanoma: blend in with a normal-looking prosthetic or make a statement. Gibson chose to make a statement. After getting official clearance from the professional soccer team Bayern Munich, Gibson unveiled a prosthetic eye featuring his favorite team’s logo. “I could go back to normality and get the same eye, nobody will really know — or I can go big or go home,” Gibson said. Extremely rare diagnosis Ocular melanoma affects only five or six out of every million people each year. The cancer starts in specialized cells that make melanin, the pigment that gives color to eyes and skin. Most eye melanomas form in parts of the eye that cannot be seen when looking in a mirror. The cancer may not cause symptoms, but when they occur, signs can include flashes of light that look like specks of dust, a growing dark spot in the colored part of the eye, poor or blurry vision in one eye and lo