Glasgow mum's 'world stopped' hearing cancer diagnosis after using sunbeds for over two decades

A Glasgow mum who started using sunbeds as a teen has issued a stark warning after discovering a lump on her leg which made her blood 'run cold'.

Nicola McFadden, like many women of her generation, started using tanning devices when she was just 16 years old to look good when going out - becoming a weekly visitor to salons over the following 26 years. The 42-year-old was unaware of the danger the devices posed until finding a lump on her leg last year, which made her 'blood run cold.'

The Baillieston nursery teacher was referred to a dermatologist after visiting the doctor and felt her 'world stopped' after medics circled potential cancer sites all over her body. Nicola told Glasgow Live: "I noticed a mark on my leg, which was raised but flat.

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"It was like ice going through my veins. I knew something was wrong.

"I can honestly say that my world stopped when they started circling all these moles all over my body that needed to be checked. They identified three different areas in my leg, arm and back that had melanoma (skin cancer).

"They said they caught the cancer very early, but I had to get them cut out. It's left me with a massive scar on my back because they had to take so much out.

"They said it was quite rare that I had it in three different places on my body because most people only have one area. That is likely because I was using the sunbeds so often.

"But I'm not bothered about the scars, my first thought was my son because he only has me and my family. I felt so emotional that he could have to grow up without a mum because I was stupid and wanted a tan.

"People don't know how bad they can be."

Nicola believes there was no information available on the dangers of sunbed use when she started using them at 16 with her friends.

She added: "There was no information then about the dangers, and even now if you go into a shop, no one will tell you that it could cause cancer. When I started, it was the done thing; you'd go with friends before a night out, and people had them in their houses and would hire them out.

"My parents let me go because there was no information on how it was bad. Even now, parents are still letting their kids go because there is a lack of information.

"I can guarantee that half of the people I know have used them. We used to get a new outfit and then go to the sunbeds, and if it was a big night out, you might go a few times that week.

"And I was using them a few times a week from when I was a teen right up till I was 40. There wasn't a break between using the sunbeds unless I went on holiday.

"We used to go to certain shops because they would give you a better tan; they were stronger. At the same time, I was buying the nasal sprays to give you a better colour."

Nicola, who is now cancer free but will need to go back every few months to get her body checked in case more have developed, now wants to raise awareness of how dangerous sunbed use can be and encourage people to check their bodies for signs of cancer.

She said: "Before I had it the only person I had heard of that had skin cancer was Celtic legend Tommy Burns.

Tommy Burns, a former Celtic player and manager, died from skin cancer at the age of 51 on May 15, 2008. His late wife Rosemary previously expressed her belief that the Parkhead legend would have survived if he had sought treatment sooner for a skin mole.

Before adding: "That's why I want to raise awareness. It doesn't matter if you are healthy; it can happen to anyone. A few people I know have gone to get their marks checked since I've got it. That's the impact I want to have.

Nicola says in the 26 years that she went to the sunbeds she can only remember signing a form a handful of times and never saw a warning for cancer or health impacts the devices could cause. She is calling for warnings to be put in shops and for a smoking-style campaign to raise awareness of the disease.

IRAC and Cancer Research UK have provided a statement on subbed use: “Indoor tanning beds are proven to cause cancer and have been classified in the highest cancer risk category by the World Health Organisation’s International Agency for Cancer Research.

"Nearly 90% of Melanomas are thought to be caused by exposure to UV light and Sunlight and young people who regularly use tanning beds are eight times more likely to develop Melanoma compared to those who have never used them.”

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