Laura May McMullan spent years under sunbeds and sunbathing on holiday. Then she developed skin cancer and realised her desire to be brown had put her life in danger.
I was a tanning addict.
Being brown was being me. If I wasn't tanned, then I didn't look like "me". Silly I know, but that's just the way I felt.
Having a tan made me feel better about myself. I used to say it was like a "tonic" - it made me feel more confident and more healthy.
In reality, my JXUwMDM3JXUwMDE5JXUwMDEzJXUwMDE3JXUwMDA1JXUwMDFmJXUwMDBkJXUwMDA5JXUwMDAxJXUwMDA0JXUwMDA3JXUwMDA5 desire to be tanned couldn't have been more unhealthy.
I don't know where that desire came from - I was always pale JXUwMDJjJXUwMDFjJXUwMDFhJXUwMDFkJXUwMDFhJXUwMDEyJXUwMDBmJXUwMDA3JXUwMDFhJXUwMDAx my school years. I don't have an addictive personality. I just think sunbeds have the "power" to make you feel good. And I know serotonin - the "happy hormone" - can be released when your body is exposed to sunlight.
From about the age of about 16 I started using sunbeds. First it was once a week, then twice, then I got to a point of using them every day. I admit I became addicted.
My parents tried to tell me that I was damaging my skin, but I never thought about the consequences. I used them for about 10 years, going to a variety of salons and also JXUwMDMwJXUwMDAxJXUwMDFiJXUwMDFiJXUwMDA3JXUwMDA5 them at home.
It was my choice and I'm not blaming anyone for what happened to me. But I was never given an "informed" JXUwMDNiJXUwMDBiJXUwMDA3JXUwMDA2JXUwMDBhJXUwMDA2 . Not once in all the 10 years JXUwMDNjJXUwMDBkJXUwMDBk any salon staff give me any advice about my skin, or about the safe level of UV exposure, and there were no information signs.
But most of my friends could see the dangers of what I was doing and many of them tried to JXUwMDJmJXUwMDE2JXUwMDEzJXUwMDFj me. In fact, it was a standing joke with all my friends in the office every time I went on holiday.
"What colour are you aiming for this time?" My reply was always "mahogany".
Between using sunbeds and also going abroad six weeks a year, I was putting myself in danger.
I actually stopped using sunbeds about 12 years ago. I could see the wrinkles increasing. Not once though did it ever enter my head that I could be affected by skin cancer, let JXUwMDM5JXUwMDBkJXUwMDAzJXUwMDAxJXUwMDBi the deadliest type, malignant melanoma.
It's been the toughest time of my life, but I'm so thankful I survived it and am still here to try to warn others.
My life changed JXUwMDNlJXUwMDA5JXUwMDFkJXUwMDE3JXUwMDEzJXUwMDEzJXUwMDE3 when, on 5 Feb 2014, I got the news of my cancer. I received a text message asking me to call the dermatologist who'd done a biopsy a month earlier on a little red spot on the back of my leg.
I remember the dermatologist's words: "I'm so sorry to tell you it's melanoma." I didn't really know what that meant, but I felt sick to the pit of my stomach.
On 4 June, a week after major surgery, I was told that no more melanoma was found. I hugged the JXUwMDNiJXUwMDBjJXUwMDAxJXUwMDFkJXUwMDA2JXUwMDE5JXUwMDE4JXUwMDE1JXUwMDBmJXUwMDFh and thought that's it - I can get on with my life.
I definitely think people today are more aware about the dangers of tanning, but I think the majority still think "it won't happen to me." Thoughts of having melanoma are with me every day - but I'm JXUwMDNjJXUwMDAxJXUwMDExJXUwMDExJXUwMDE3JXUwMDFmJXUwMDA0JXUwMDA3JXUwMDBiJXUwMDAx not to let them hold me back.I now put on factor 50 sun cream half an hour before I go out, and I cover up from head to toe. Frankly, who cares what I look like. There is no JXUwMDJmJXUwMDE2JXUwMDE4 I will ever sit out in the sun again.
adapted from BBC magazine