Peep Veedla says cancer is under control but avoids long-term plans

Peep Veedla, who was diagnosed with stomach cancer a year and a half ago, says his condition is under control and he is feeling better than ever, ERR reported. He is taking a break from treatment but is not making long-term plans.

“I am having a good period now, with a month-long break from treatment. I have never felt this well during my illness,” Veedla told Vikerraadio’s programme “Päevatee”. “My hand still does not close into a fist, but I feel very good and my step is lively. For a long time my step has been sluggish, but now I am practically flying.”

Until now, Veedla has regularly undergone cancer treatment, including intravenous infusions followed by two weeks of chemotherapy in tablet form. He would then have a break of one or two weeks. This time, the break is lasting a full month.

Veedla said he does not like talking about cancer. Although he is very grateful for the support of his friends, he said he is dealing with the disease on his own.

He is gradually winding down activities he has been involved in for years. “Organising concerts is now history for me. I still have one festival to organise, and then I can peacefully focus on my bird world, hopefully write a few more books and lead birdwatching trips. I still have the energy for that,” he said.

Veedla organises concerts for Käsmu and Viru Folk. He said Viru Folk would probably continue under a different name and with different organisers.

“Viru Folk has always reflected me. I put the programme together entirely on my own. I have to like it. I make a festival for myself, and by chance many other people like it too, otherwise they would not come,” he said.

Veedla said he had a happy childhood and grew up in Kõrvemaa. His family farm stood on the edge of a forest, with a bog directly behind it, and he spent much of his time in the woods and wetlands.

At the age of 10, he began working summers on a collective farm to earn pocket money. He used what he earned to buy things his parents would otherwise have disapproved of, including his first tape recorder and a guitar.

He said lifting heavy flour sacks damaged his back when he was still young. “I have suffered from back problems all my life. Young boys were given work that was too heavy back then.”

Veedla also recalled enjoying parties and dancing. He wore long hair, wide trousers and platform shoes, and was often mistaken for a girl.

In 1989, he began teaching an ornithology group after putting himself forward for the role. Although he did not have the required education, he had watched birds since childhood and was a trusted representative and bird ringer for the Society of Naturalists.

“Being a trusted representative meant that the data I collected was trusted,” he said.

Veedla is also a publisher and writer. “Writing myself is what fascinates me. I have always been able to do what I wanted in life, starting with going to the nature centre,” he said.

He said his father worked in technology but was an alcoholic, while his mother worked in agriculture. Veedla was close to his mother, but his grandmother was the person who raised him. His sister was three years older, but poor health meant she spent much of her time in sanatorium schools.

Veedla said birds were abundant around his childhood home. He began recording the dates when birds returned in spring at the age of nine. In autumn 1975, when he turned 14, he began ringing birds and became a trusted representative of the Society of Naturalists. Estonia did not yet have an ornithological society at the time.

In 1976, work began on a large bird atlas, and Veedla took part in its fieldwork as a young man. “It was an exciting time. That work helped develop a serious knowledge of birds and created a strong foundation,” he said.