Man Raises Awareness for Rare Ocular Cancer with Soccer-Themed Prosthetic Eye
Ryan GibsonCredit: WBTV News/YouTube
Ryan Gibson was diagnosed with ocular melanoma in 2016 and had his right eye removed
He is now raising awareness for the rare cancer in a unique way
The Bayern Munich superfan has a prosthetic eye that features the soccer club’s logo
Ryan Gibson found a unique way to combine two of his biggest passions: his love for a German soccer team and his mission to raise awareness for a rare cancer.
After weeks of experiencing blurry vision and seeing dark spots in his right eye, the North Carolina man was diagnosed with ocular melanoma in 2016, per WBTV. His doctors gave him two options: radiation treatment or amputation.
Gibson chose to have his right eye removed and replaced with a prosthetic eye. That’s when he decided that he could “go back to normality, [where] nobody will really know” he has a prosthetic eye — or he could “go big.”
For Gibson, going big meant showcasing his love for Bayern Munich by having a prosthetic eye made that features the soccer club’s logo.
“I could have gone the regular eye route and matched it to my remaining eye, but what fun would that have been?” Gibson told Invision magazine in 2016. “Instead, I chose to have an FC Bayern eye made for two reasons. First, it instantly brings up my love for Bayern in conversation and second, that leads straight into talking about ocular melanoma.”
Ryan GibsonCredit: Ryan Gibson/Instagram
“I want to use it as a tool, not just an eye,” Gibson added to WBTV. “At some point in the conversation, they’ll get up the nerve to go, ‘What happened?’ When they get to that point, then you have the opening for awareness of ocular melanoma.”
Gibson told Invision that “all it took” was submitting a letter of permission to use FC Bayern’s international trademark to his ocularist at Carolina Eye Prosthetics.
“And, boy, has it accomplished what I wanted!” he told the magazine at the time, citing the more than 130 million social media impressions he had racked up, as well as the widespread media coverage of his story.
Ryan GibsonCredit: Ryan Gibson/Instagram
In addition, in 2022, a black version of Gibson’s prosthetic eye went on display at the German Football Museum as part of the Football Is My Religion exhibit. Gibson shared photos of the exhibit on his Instagram at the time.
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“Through it all, I have learned that if you can figure out how to have fun with something tragic, like an ultra-rare eye cancer, you can motivate and inspire millions, as well as create unrivaled awareness for your cause,” he told Invision of raising awareness with his unique prosthetic eye.
Last year, Gibson had the unforgettable opportunity to see Bayern Munich in action in his home state when the team played at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte during the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
“That’s something that not a lot of people in the U.S. are able to say,” he told WBTV.
Source: Sports
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