Thank you so much for visiting my JustGiving page. I'm hoping to raise some money for a charity in aid of a cause very close to my heart: skin cancer.

In July 2010, I was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma, aged 25.

I had visited my dermatologist a completely different reason when he offered a skin check - half hour later I was on an operating table having several moles removed. One of them turned out to be malignant, so a further operation was needed to confirm it hadn't spread. I was left with 20 stitches, a huge hole in my back and the harsh words of my doctor constantly repeating in my head "had we not found this, you may have been dead within a year". 

The physical and emotional wounds have now pretty much healed, but I'm very aware of how lucky I was: I never went on sunbeds, I always used sun lotion, but I'm fair skinned and these things can happen to anyone - shit happens. I've educated myself a lot over the past few years and have learned one very important lesson: skin cancer is a terrible and agressive disease, but it is also completely preventable. 

I've become a bit of an SPF50 Warrior, telling people my story in the hopes that it might open their eyes to the damage they are doing to themselves. I used to think things like this couldn't happen to me, especially so young, but it did - and it might very well happen to you or people around you. Malignant Melanoma is now the most common cancer for people aged 15-34 and kills 7 people in the UK every day - it is really scary stuff.

Raising awareness, educating and early detection is key in defeating a very modern day disease, and so I want to raise funds for SKCIN - the UK's only skin cancer specific charity - to help them fight this battle, so perhaps others don't have to go through what I went through.

I'm running my very first 10k on May 18th, followed by another on May 27th. Although it's not marathon just yet (one day!), for me to get to this point has been a long journey and doing this means a lot to me. So any donations - however small - for this great cause will be very appreciated! I promise I'll run a little faster if you do... 

Thank you so much,

Alex

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