A mum who found out she had skin cancer after just three months of using sunbeds has warned people to be careful.
Lucy Hartland, 29, had tried all sorts of products to tan her skin but none of them had given her the desired effect so she switched to sunbeds.
The "naive" mum from Gloucester started using them for 10-15 minutes every day from last April.
She said: "I wasn't comfortable in the colour of my skin, I wanted to get a tan and get it quick."
Lucy said tanning was an immediate boost to her confidence, but three months into it she spotted a "ridiculously tiny" mole on her shin, Yorkshire Live reports.
She went to the GP, who referred her to a skin specialist at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital Hospital.
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There they looked at the mole and removed it for a biopsy - less than a week later Lucy was told it was cancerous and she had stage 1A melanoma.
Former nursery nurse Lucy underwent surgery where she had a skin graft to cover the crater left in her leg.
Now, having been given the all-clear, Lucy is sharing her story to urge tanaholics to ditch sunbeds and embrace fake tan.
She said: "I just wanted to get a lush tan. I didn't have a clue about the risks, I was so naive.
"Fake tans weren't working, they would go patchy so I started going on sunbeds every day for 10-15 minutes at a time.
"When I started going on the sunbeds I would see the results instantly.
"My skin looked better, my teeth looked whiter, everything was just better. It was a massive confidence boost having a tan.
"Within three months of going on them I had Stage 1A melanoma.
"When they told me I had it, I had no idea about it. I read up about it when I got home and I just thought 'I've got a child, what am I going to do if this gets worse?'
"I've had the all-clear, the melanoma's completely gone, and I have check-ups every three months but I've just got to be very careful in the sun now."
Lucy, mum to three-year-old daughter Marnie Rooney, shared her experience in a Facebook post in January, begging her friends to ditch the sunbeds.
The post read: "WARNING PICTURES ARE NOT FOR THE FAINT HEARTED.
"28 with skin cancer?? That wouldn't ever happen to me all because of a sunbed??!!
"Having to deal with this isn't easy but it's got to be put out for others to realise!
"You all wanna go on a sunbed and get a lush tan yeah? So this is the aftermath of my skin graft and removal of my cancerous mole...
"I am nowhere near the recovery I should be and now have infected leg maybe having to have another operation. I am on bed rest for the next three days, I can't even have my own daughter rn [right now] due to the medication I am on.
"If this isn't a lesson learnt to others and an eye opener nothing will be! Do your research, understand the UV! Please let this all be a lesson be safe!!!"
Lucy had dabbled with fake tans for many years but didn't achieve the results she wanted, which prompted her decision to try sunbeds.
Unaware of the risks, Lucy opted to use tan accelerators on sunbeds she rented for use at home or in tanning salons when lockdown restrictions lifted.
Recollecting the moment she was called in for her biopsy results, she said: "Less than a week later they sent me a letter asking me to come in for a chat that said 'bring someone with you'.
"I remember thinking 'oh god this doesn't sound too good' so I took my sister. They told me there and then and then what it was and that I had to have another operation.
"I then had a second operation where they removed what was left and I had a skin graft. I spoke to them and Macmillan, they were both brilliant I couldn't fault them."
Despite the operation going well Lucy was left with scarring on both her shin and thigh where the skin graft was taken from.
Lucy said: "[After the operation] I had an infection in my leg so I didn't recover very well.
"It's left a crater in my leg that's very deep and there's a big scar. At the top of my leg I've also got a scar from the skin graft site, so I won't be wearing any skirts or dresses."
Now recovering, Lucy always wears sunscreen and is urging other tanners to avoid using tanning beds and instead use fake tan.
Lucy said: "I decided to share my experience because people don't understand the dangers of it, it can happen to anyone.
"I didn't think of the risks, I didn't care if I got burned and I would never ever think to use sun cream. Now I put factor 50 on my legs once a day.
"My advice to tanaholics would be to not go on sunbeds, it's not worth risking your life for a tan."
