When you get to be middle-aged like Robyn and me, you treasure the lifelong friendships you made in your late teens and twenties. The party years may have been just a flash of time, but the bonds created are some of the strongest of our lives. How could I not want to help a cherished friend to replace the eye she just lost to cancer?

Robyn McCaskill is about to turn 60. In late 2021, at a regular annual eye test at her optometrist, she was told that her retina was detaching. Follow-up with specialists confirmed a substantial melanoma behind her eye. The recommended treatment was to remove the eye completely, to which Robyn immediately said, ‘I would rather lose an eye than my life’.

Robyn’s December surgery went well and her strength (though never in doubt) has been amazing. She is recovering well both physically and emotionally. The removal of her eye included implanting a ‘ball’ to fill the eye socket to which a custom-made shell will attach, matching her other ever-smiling eye! This is where we can help. The cost of the surgery was manageable, however the prosthetic eye will cost around $5000 with ongoing maintenance costs every year. Robyn is also self-employed and has been impacted financially with limited ability to work during COVID and her recovery.

Starting with just a conversation about helping-out amongst a few of her long-time friends, we agreed that casting the net wider with this GoFundMe campaign would be a better way to allow more people who’s lives have been touched by Robyn, Mark, Renee, Daniel and Ashlee to contribute.

Humble, quiet and never wanting to be the centre of attention, Robyn may be a little embarrassed by this effort to help her close-knit family. Her family means everything to her, yet her friends know that she deserves a break after the trauma of the last few months. So I am setting the fundraising target to $10,000 to enable Robyn to have a holiday and cover all of the costs associated with this tragic change to her quiet, happy life.

I think I speak for everyone that knows Robyn and her family in saying that it is such a great relief that the cancer has been beaten. Now I hope we can bring back her entire beautiful smile with the best prosthetic eye that she can get. Hoping you can help. Any contribution you can make will go directly to Robyn. The GoFundMe fees are relatively low, so you can be confident that she will benefit from any amount you can offer.