When I heard I had cancer my world collapsed. It eclipsed everything and my whole focus changed. Getting better became my only goal. Paradoxically my health situation also brought back the fire inside. Whenever I could and was physically capable I’d go windsurfing, I spent entire days on the water again. I had so much fun windsurfing, SUPing, I didn’t feel like getting off the water. I experienced the sport in a whole new way. In Jericoacoara for instance, instead of waking up late, sailing a bit and then getting ready to party like I used to do, I got up early every day, had breakfast and would stand up paddle on the calm water where the sun just rose. It was a totally different feeling and something I hadn’t felt for seven years. Without my health problems I would probably still have been doing the same as all my friends. It might sound stupid, but the illness has also brought a lot of good to my life, it didn’t just take things away.
LOVE
I met my girlfriend Carolina when we were screening Magic Moments and Rewarded in Brazil last year. We just connected. We are not just boyfriend and girlfriend, we are best friends, partners, in life and work. There is not a single thought I wouldn’t share with her. The funny thing is, I don’t think I would have been interested in her before. And neither would she have been. I was blind to so many things. Now everything seemed to connect. Us together, what we liked, how we think, even though we are really different in a lot of things. She’s more crazy and fearless, where I am more shy and careful. I guess I am very German, while she has this Southern flair. Of course my situation makes everything even more intense. This might be the reason why we feel so much, why we talk so much. She does what no chemo or treatment could ever achieve. We never fight. Why would you have arguments if it only means you’re losing time together?
