A warning to sun worshippers (From Gazette Series)

A warning to sun worshippers

A YOUNG mother from Chipping Sodbury was diagnosed with skin cancer four years ago and is now working with Cancer Research UK's SunSmart campaign to help raise awareness locally of the dangers we all face if we fail to treat the sun with the respect it deserves.

Skin cancer is the second most common form of cancer in the UK; 69,000 new cases appear each year and the rate is rising. The cancer is, however, preventable in half of all cases.

Sue Knight, aged 32, was diagnosed with skin cancer in spring 2001, when a mole on her back became itchy, showing rapid growth and blistering - classic symptoms of skin cancer.

Her case was a malignant melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, which can prove fatal. Luckily, an operation carried out at Frenchay Hospital to remove two square inches from around the affected area proved successful, and Mrs Knight has made a full and rapid recovery.

Married with two children, she recalls that the most distressing part of her trauma was facing the possibility that her family might be left without a mother, a thought which she said rendered her "physically sick."

She says she is not a particularly fanatical sun-lover, nor especially reckless in the sun. She remembers, however, one childhood incident during which an afternoon of exposure to hot sunshine left her with third-degree burns and she believes this may well have been the source of her condition.

What worries her about the UK population, however, is the blas, "it won't happen to me" attitude.

The rarity of sunshine in the UK not only leaves people inexperienced at dealing with sunshine, but also careless when the sun does emerge.

Australia has a much lower rate of skin cancer than the UK, despite being a much sunnier country, and Mrs Knight attributes this to a much better general understanding of how to deal with exposure to the sun, which in Australia is a part of everyday life.

She feels that steps must be taken to make people aware of the very real risks they face from over-exposure to the sun; constant media warnings are not enough. She hopes her own involvement in the SunSmart campaign will give it greater impact at local level.

The campaign is attempting to effect a profound change in UK sun-culture, actively discouraging people from setting out to get a tan. It advocates wearing plenty of clothes and high-factor sunscreen in the sun and staying in the shade during midday hours.

The campaign has some high-profile supporters, including celebrities such as England Rugby Sevens captain Simon Amor, singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor, and CBBC presenter Fearne Cotton.

Does Mrs Knight consider that, despite its support from the celebrity world, the campaign is too ambitious? She hopes not; her own experiences have taught her just how cautious it is necessary to be.

More information about SunSmart and sun protection can be found on the web at www.sunsmart.org.uk.