Casino dad creates bucket list of things to do before he goes blind - including Cape York trip

”Just because you have a health problem, you don’t have to let it stop your life”: Why this Northern Rivers business owner is ticking off his “must see” list.

BUCKET LIST: Steven Sun wants to achieve all he can before a life-changing operation could leave him blind. Picture: Susanna Freymark

A Casino businessman and dad who could lose his sight in six months has kickstarted a bucket list of memories he wants to make before he goes blind.

Casino Driving School owner Steven Sun has been warned about the slow-growing growth in his head since 2010, knowing one day it might lead to an operation that would cut across his optical nerves and leave him vision impaired.

Due to his line of work, doctors have avoided that solution as long as possible but now “D-Day”, as Mr Sun calls it, could be imminent following a June scan and he wants to make the most of his sight before then.

At the top of his bucket list was a trip to the northernmost tip of Australia, Cape York.

“That is my dream before I have to concede defeat,” Mr Sun said.

“We worked out I have around the next six months left and it’s about needing to get out and make most of the time I have before then.

“I need to grab it by the hand and take advantage of what I’ve got, because I am s*** scared at the moment about venturing into the unknown.”

Mr Sun said he had been partly inspired by the 2009 film Charlie and Boots to accomplish the mission, even taking on-board his 17-year-old son who hoped to do the trip with dad.

“I love the great outdoors, I love camping,” he said.

“I just want to go top of the Cape, catch a Barramundi and tick it off the list.

“If time prevails, I would head back across the NT, come down into Kakadu, Uluru and make the most of it.”

He also hoped to spend as much time as possible with his four “beautiful” children, three grandchildren and family.

“I was lying in bed on Sunday when I heard knock on my door at 7am and it was my son who had driven seven hours to spend the weekend with me,” he said.

“It has hit the kids, they’ve accepted it and we’re just trying to make the most of the time we’ve got.”

A longstanding businessman in the community for 17 years, Mr Sun said he had been touched and shocked by the outpouring of support since the announcement.

“I had an elderly gentlemen hand me $100 and said, ‘’that will fill your tank up’. I had another elderly lady ring up and donate $20, It’s very much appreciated,” he said

“I’ve achieved many things, I’ve help mayor Mustow’s daughter and grandson get licenses, I helped with police sheriffs.

“To have this put on me is going to be a challenge, but it is what it is.

“I just hope I can be an inspiration, go away and journal my trip and show people just because you have a health problem, you don't have to let it stop your life.”