A mum diagnosed with skin cancer has begged people to wear sun cream during the latest heatwave and protect their skin as a 'tan just isn't worth it'.
Michelle Richardson, 49, took care to apply SPF when she was enjoying a holiday abroad but admitted she rarely used the protection sunbathing at home in the UK.
But this changed when Michelle, from Hampshire, found a concerning mole on her back five years ago and ended up having it removed.
Her initial diagnosis was skin cancer but one year later, she received the heartbreaking news that her body had become riddled with tumours.
She was diagnosed with Stage 4 incurable melanoma and had tumours in her lungs and brain, the Mirror reports.
Neurophysio Michelle was initially told the mole was 'nothing to worry about' when she saw a dermatologist in 2017.
In February 2018, Michelle was diagnosed with a thin layer of skin cancer, at stage 1B, which was removed.
"I knew at the time something was wrong and I just went numb," she said. "I just wanted facts. I knew nothing about melanoma.
"But he was really reassuring, saying it was really thin, we've taken it out and the wider tissue removed around it.
"It was caught early and he's not worried about it."
She was given the all clear and scans showed the cancer hadn't spread but Michelle asked for a lymph node surgery as she covered by her husband's private medical insurance.
It was here that they came across a tiny microscopic deposit of cancer - a micrometastasis - that wasn't picked up on a scan due to its size, which set her at stage three Melanoma.
The micrometastasis was also removed, but with no treatment available at the time, such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy to mop up any other rogue cells, there was nothing else they could do.
She had CT scans every six months and an ultrasound of her armpits every six months as well, with the scans clear until the summer of 2019.
Michelle, who was feeling bloated and exhausted, discovered a chickpea-size lump on her pelvis. The next morning, three more had appeared - one on her back, her ribs, and her pelvis.
She managed to book an appointment with the dermatologist that afternoon, where she at that point had gained seven lumps.
"It was utterly terrifying," Michelle said.
"He [the dermatologist] went white when he looked at me. I knew then it was stage four. I knew the outlook was going to be very, very bad.
"That was when utter devastation and complete guilt for my daughter hit me."
Doctors said she had high-grade melanoma, with tumours doubling every two hours.
The cancer had been dormant in her lymphatic system before multiplying and getting into her bloodstream, spreading all over her body.
She was soon hospitalised and a chest x-ray revealed she had tumours in both of her lungs, as five tumours were also discovered in her brain.
Michelle said: "I went from working to not being able to walk, sit up and breathe the following Monday.
"Tumours were wrapped around my kidney, my spleen, in my stomach, my pelvis, my shoulder blades.
"I had lumps everywhere under my skin so all of my chest and stomach and back and face and neck were covered in really painful lumps. It happened in the space of a week."
Luckily, a new life-saving treatment had become licensed in the UK a year earlier - immunotherapy - which suppresses the immune system to attack cancer cells.
Within fours weeks, Michelle was able to sit up again, breathe more easily, and the lumps had shrunk. She received the news in December 2019 that the treatment had been working.
While she was told she was in remission in September 2020, Michelle still fears the cancer will return and says she was 'prepared to die' before immunotherapy worked.
She is now begging people to wear sun cream as we approach summer. New research from the charity Melanoma Focus shows that 32 percent of Brits reported rarely or never using sunscreen when in the UK and only 11 percent said that they always use it.
"The skin is the largest organ, it goes everywhere. It’s the fastest growing cancer in young people and because it is in the skin, it will go everywhere," Michelle, who doesn't think she applied enough sun cream up to her bra line in the past, said.
"It kills and it's utterly devastating.
"With any other cancer, if they said you could put a cream on your skin to prevent it, you’d do it without question but people aren't with melanoma.
"It's just not worth it for a tan."
Melanoma skin cancer is becoming more common in the UK with around 16,700 new cases every year. Recent research has shown that there has been a huge increase in the number of people in the UK being diagnosed with melanoma, despite efforts to educate the public on the risks.
Susanna Daniels, CEO of Melanoma Focus, commented: "About seven people die from melanoma every day in the UK and more people die from melanoma in the UK than in Australia.
"The fact that people are continuing to ignore the warnings and not take the necessary precautions to protect themselves from skin cancer is concerning.
"About 9 in 10 melanoma skin cancer cases are preventable and it is vital that people take the warnings about the dangers of excessive sun exposure and the dangers of sunbed use seriously.
"Sunbeds can be incredibly dangerous and it's concerning that their use is so popular in the UK. The best way to protect yourself from the dangers of sunbeds is to avoid them altogether and use high-factor sun protection, along with seeking shade and wearing a hat when in the sun."
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