Local skin cancer survivor urges others to be careful in the sun

A skin cancer survivor from Farnham says people should immediately get themselves checked out if they notice something wrong

Sarah Goldup was diagnosed in her 30s however she told us she believes the damage was done long before that

"I had a mark on my neck that I'd had for quite a long time, I had first noticed it probably like in my late teens, early 20s. But it wasn't until, say, 10 years later, when I was in my 30s, I'd noticed that it started to change a little bit.

A couple of like my family had said as well, you should get that checked out because it looks like you've got some whites

I then had a biopsy and I got the results back six weeks later, which unfortunately did confirm that it was melanoma."

She told us she had the misconception that because she was young and healthy, she wasn't at risk

"I think with myself, I had the view that it's fine. It's not me. I'm young. I'm not unwell. So I just didn't think it would happen to me. But, you know, it did happen to me.

So if you do notice anything, I would just say straight away, go and get it checked out. It might not be anything because sometimes like a raised lymph node doesn't mean anything, but also it can mean something.

So it's really important to go and get yourself checked out just to reassure yourself, the outlook is not always as great if you do leave things too late."

Cancer Research UK say 86% of melanoma skin cancer cases in the UK are preventable.

Sarah says whenever she sees people not being responsible in the sun it can put her on edge

I think I'm definitely more sensitive to that now. And if I, when I go on holiday, I always look and notice people are sunburnt and it kind of gives me, it, you know, just makes me feel a bit uneasy.

She adds with global warming and the weather getting hotter, the topic is only going to get more relevant

"I don't know the exact details off the top of my head, but I think melanoma rates are going to go up quite a lot by 2040.

So like global warming and things like that, I think it is more people in our country are probably more susceptible to getting these things, whereas it was probably something just in hotter countries before."

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