In September last year, 66-year-old Lionel McGuire went to his GP with what he thought was a hernia. He was too late and now his daughter wants people to check their skin for any changes.
Just two months after he visited his GP, Lionel died from a melanoma measuring 22 centimetres in size, which was placing pressure on his pelvis and spine.
His daughter Sally Everett of Narromine is urging the community: If something doesn't look or feel right, get it checked.
"We didn't even know melanoma could be internal," Ms Everett said.
"We had so much to learn, and so we decided that we didn't want to see anybody suffer, or watch their loved one suffer like what we went through with dad."
One person diagnosed with melanoma every 30 minutes
The family teamed up with the Australian Skin Cancer Foundation and has since been spreading the word about the importance of skin checks and being sun safe.
Ms Everett has also recently been appointed to the foundation's board of directors.
Last weekend Ms Everett's husband and sister took part in Jay's Mission Melanoma Walk, trekking 300 kilometres from Canberra to Sydney to promote a message of awareness: Get your skin checked and stay sun safe.
The 10-day walk led by the Australian Skin Cancer Foundation's Jay Allen — also a melanoma survivor — aimed to raise $250,000 for research, support, education and to drive advocacy.
Ms Everett said the campaign was also calling for government funding to cover annual skin check-ups, and to enable trials to help find a cure for this "horrible disease".
A new case of melanoma is diagnosed every 30 minutes in Australia, and a person dies from the disease every six hours, according to the Melanoma Institute Australia.
Western NSW a top hotspot, but one regional centre lacks services
The Western NSW local area health district is in the top five melanoma hot spots, but Dubbo — which is one of the district's largest centres — has just one clinic which has expert equipment and specialises in preventative skin checks.
While a GP can perform a skin check, Ms Everett says when something's been found there is not a lot of support available.
"One place it's quite scary," she said.
"We can have 46-degree heat days. But even when it's not hot and sunny, you can still get burned through the clouds, and that's something I remember my dad telling me all the time.
"So we really need to advocate and educate people on the importance of regular skin checks and being aware."
A simple process to save your life
Ms Everett also explained skin cancer can be genetic, with about one in every 10 people diagnosed with a melanoma having a family history of the disease.
"I can remember having arguments with my dad about skin checks, because I was like, 'I don't go out in the sun that often, I don't need to have one'," she said.
"But that's not true. So after we lost dad the first thing I did was go and have a skin check, and it's really easy."
It takes about 20 minutes at most, and is not intrusive. The skin specialist looks at the skin and runs a camera, which Ms Everett described as a small iPad over the skin to see if anything stands out.
"And that's it. So, you know it's just really important, obviously if they find something, then they will talk to you about actions about what might need to happen. And if there's not, you just need to go back in 12 months, just to continue that regular check."
