A mother-of-two who used sunbeds at least once a week died from skin cancer within a year of finding a mole.
Lianne Gosling, 33, was diagnosed with malignant melanoma last December after noticing a small mole in her eyebrow.
Doctors removed it and she was expected to make a full recovery - but tests then revealed she was ravaged with cancer which had spread to several of her major organs.
Lianne Gosling (pictured with her twin sons, Sam and Ryan) died of skin cancer at the age of 33, less than a year after finding a suspicious mole on her face
She passed away on October 28 in a hospice and her funeral was held today.
Friends said Miss Gosling was a 'very regular' sunbed user who topped up her tan as often as she could, sometimes a few times a week.
After having the mole removed, Miss Gosling, an online retailer, assumed she was on the road to recovery.
But a few weeks later she began to feel ill - and tests revealed the cancer had spread to organs such as her lungs and liver.
Her father, Robert, 62, and mother, Glenda, 58, from Boosbeck, North Yorkshire, now want to warn others of the risk they believe is posed by the sunbeds their daughter regularly used.
Mr Gosling said: ‘Experts at Middlesbrough’s James Cook University Hospital have told us they think sunbed use was the prime reason for Lianne’s death.
'Sunbed use has robbed us of our stunning only daughter. She hardly ever went abroad.
'If this story just saves one life, then it’s worth it and Lianne will not have died in vain.'
Ms Gosling was initially expected to make a full recovery after having surgery to remove the mole on her face. However, the cancer spread to her jaw and major organs
Ms Gosling's parents, Robert and Glenda, believe their daughter developed the cancer as a result of her sunbed use - they are now encouraging other people not to use sunbeds
‘She was such a lovely person, so loving - especially to her twin sons Sam and Ryan, aged eight - and she had so many friends. She was so well known all over this region.’
Her mother added: ‘The two boys were her life. Even though she was so desperately ill at the end, nothing would stop her attending their birthday party on October 20, just eight days before she died.’
She added: ‘Lea is irreplaceable and, though our hearts are broken, we are so very proud of her and the way in which she lived her life.’
Research has shown that people who have ever used a sunbed are 20 per cent more likely to develop melanoma later in life, compared to people who had never used one.
And those who started using sunbeds before the age of 35 were 87 per cent more likely to develop melanoma compared to people who have never used a sunbed.
Cases of malignant melanoma - the deadliest skin cancer - have doubled in the last decade, according to figures from Cancer Research UK.
Mr Gosling said: 'If this story just saves one life, then it's worth it and Lianne will not have died in vain.' Ms Gosling (pictured as a child) was a keen horse rider who won many awards as a child and teenager
Around 13,000 Britons are diagnosed with the illness each year and it causes 2,800 deaths.
Miss Gosling's parents said that doctors in the U.S. have just announced a wonder drug combination which means 50 per cent of advanced skin cancer sufferers can now be saved, but it came too late for their daughter.
This involves using a drug called Yervoy and another called Nivolumab, which fight and suppress the cancer simultaneously, in a revolutionary new way.
Mr Gosling said: ‘Just a month before she died, Lianne wept as she watched a Sky News report which stated this was now a fact.
‘I had also searched the internet for the very latest news on treatment. But the lifeline came just too late for her as she wasn’t able to benefit from the new drug combination.’
However, the couple want people in their area to know that lives could now be saved as the ground-breaking treatment is being trialled at five UK hospitals.
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF SKIN CANCER?
Symptoms that may indicate skin cancer include any mole, spot, lump or area of skin that:
- Doesn't heal within four weeks
- Is itchy, painful, scaly, bright pink or bleeds
- Gets noticeably bigger
- Changes shape - for example, if the edge becomes irregular
- Changes colour - darkens or becomes patchy
- Becomes an ulcer
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2488356/Young-mother-dies-getting-skin-cancer-sunbeds-aged-just-33.html#ixzz2jtCXYeKV
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