I first noticed something had changed with my skin in 1999, when I as in my early 20's. It was actually at the Berlin Love Parade in the summer of 99 when I got badly sun burned on my face that I recognized something had changed. Before then I tanned nicely and could stay in the sun without thinking about it. Within 6 months I had almost no skin pigment left on my face and hands and most of my hair turned to white . . . it all happened very quickly. 

I`m a lot more fortunate than a lot of Vitiligo sufferers insomuch as I`m fair skinned so you would never really notice I had it, especially as I coloured my hair for the next 10 years to hide the fact I had Vitiligo. It was only when getting treatment to try and re-pigment in 2002/2003 did people notice as my face developed some large patches of dark pigment which contrasted strongly to the white patches (the picture!).

Whilst Vitiligo isn`t a life threatening condition, for me now the only real issue is the  love/hate relationship with summer. I love the summer heat and the sun but I hate having to wear ultra high factor or long sleeves and trousers, and the contrast between the de-pigmented skin and the normal skin becomes more obvious. For others, especially those with dark skin the psychological stress I can imagine being much worse as the condition is so much more visible and harder to conceal.

There isn`t yet a known cure, although there are treatments which can alleviate or partly reverse the depigmentation. Donating to the Vitiligo Society will support the scientific search for a cure as well as advising and counselling sufferers of this condition.

Thank you for your support.