Hello,

My name is Vicky and I am running my first half marathon in aid of the British Skin Foundation, a charity that raises funds for skin disease and skin cancer research, hoping to find cures.

 The reason I chose this charity is because last year I was diagnosed as having the deadliest form of skin cancer, malignant melanoma.

 In March 2010 I became aware that a red mark on my left breast which I had been ignoring for months was getting bigger and itchier by the week. Only after being forced by my mum, did I eventually go to my doctor to have it checked out. As my doctor didn’t like the look of the mark I was referred to hospital where a biopsy was carried out. At this point I didn’t think anything of it and never for a minute did I think it was anything serious. When I went back to hospital to get my results I was not prepared for the news that I was about to receive. When they told me that the mark on my skin was malignant melanoma I couldn't believe what he was telling me and I was in total shock. You never think anything like that can happen to you! I was booked in for an operation 3 days later to remove the entire melanoma and surrounding skin. This involved removing an area 10cm along and 3 cm deep from my left breast. To date I still have not recovered 100%. Apart from the physical and psychological effects the surgery had on me, the area has been left very tender and I have a long scar under my left breast. The good news however is that the surgery appears to have removed the melanoma and, if all goes well, I will get the all clear in 5 years. Meantime I have to attend hospital check-ups every 3months until then, I can't sit in the sun and I have a higher risk of getting breast cancer. Just recently I had another suspect looking mark removed for testing but thankfully it was nothing to worry about.

 

 In my teens I would use sunbeds weekly and when the sun came out, sun block was never on the agenda. The aim was to always have a tan – the darker the better! When on holiday, I would lie in the sun so long that I would burn. Sometimes the sunburn was so bad that my skin around my eyes would swell and even blinking would hurt. Back then, I thought even this look was still a better look than being pale and uninteresting – I wanted to be “bronze and beautiful” just like all the models, pop stars, film stars etc. who I idolised at the time. New figures would come out every year on how sunbeds would increase the risk of developing skin cancer. This did make me cut my use of sunbeds to maybe 1 or 2 sessions a month but I would still use a very low SPF when sun bathing. I was very ignorant as to how serious and deadly skin cancer could be and even though I eventually realised the dangers of sunbathing and using sunbeds, the damage had already been done.

 

 Now that I have gone through all this I think to myself - for what? A bit of a glow in my skin? Vanity! Was it really worth it? I can categorically answer – definitely not! I want to take my experience and turn it into something meaningful, which brings me to the half marathon. I want to help raise money and raise awareness of skin cancer and ‘pay it forward’ to protect future victims. It pains me to think that people around me are still using sunbeds to extreme levels and not protecting themselves when on holiday. They are still of the attitude (just like I was) that it will never happen to them. If I can help to get the message across to people then I feel at least some good has come out of all this. In fact, my mum says that if there is one good thing that has come out of all this is the fact that I no longer, and never will again, use sunbeds!

 

 I hope you don’t mind me asking you to please dig deep into your pockets and help raise money for a very worthy cause that will continue to save lives in future.

Thanks xx