Mother's cancer scare after childhood sunburn

A woman is warning of the dangers of sunburn after getting badly burned as a child led to skin cancer in her 40s.

Birmingham woman Emma Checkley's forehead and arms blistered while on holiday in Greece as a young child.

Forty years later, the mother-of-two was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma in the same spot on her forehead.

Skin cancer expert, Dr Paul Banwell who treated her, said the younger you are when you get sunburn, the greater the risk of skin cancer.

Ms Checkley underwent an operation to remove the cancer last month and said she was surprised to learn about the risks in later life from childhood sunburn.

"I was so shocked when I went through my history with Paul," the 47-year-old a jewellery dealer said.

"In my adult life, I have been very conscious of applying an SPF and have been very careful since my early 20s to avoid early ageing."

When a mark first appeared on her head last August, she thought she had just knocked it but after it did not heal, she sought medical advice.

Mr Banwell, previous head and founder of the Melanoma and Skin Cancer Unit in East Grinstead, told her it needed to be removed.

"I first saw him in November but it was removed in April and I was shocked how much it grew in those months," she said.

She has been left with a small scar, but said her experience has encouraged her two daughters aged eight and 11 to use sunscreen.

"Their aversion to sunscreen has gone and when they complain about sunscreen, I have said it is really important and now they see why," she said.

Mr Banwell said children's skin is "more fragile and has less protective pigment".

"Sadly, Emma's case is very much a reflection of this.

"She got severely burnt as a child in the early 1980s, when far less was known about the damage caused to the skin by the sun, and now she has been diagnosed with skin cancer.

"Fortunately, we have removed the skin cancer but it shows the dangers of sunburn at a young age very clearly."

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