Real stories about skin cancer and skin damage - SunSmart

Worksheet G
Young people and skin cancer – newspaper article
Article from: The West Australian, Monday 20/11/2006, p 10
Marked man: Peter Wallis, 18, shows the scar from where his potentially deadly melanoma
was removed. Picture: Sharon Smith.
DEBBIE GUEST
Youth no barrier to skin cancer
Skin cancer is no longer a
condition which plagues only
older generations with children
as young as 14 diagnosed with
melanoma and people in their
early 20s killed by it.
Four men between 20 and
24 died from melanoma in WA
two years ago, a fate 18-year-old
Peter Wallis came all too close to.
He now faces a lifetime of skin
checks and being vigilant about
the dangers of the sun.
The University of WA law and
economics student mentioned a
mole on his leg to his GP in July
and was quickly referred to a
dermatologist who removed it.
The mole was a 2.4mm
thick intermediate melanoma,
big enough to enter Mr Wallis’
bloodstream. He needed more
surgery to remove extra skin and
tests confirmed the cancer had
not spread.
Mr Wallis swam a lot when he
was younger and did not bother
with sunscreen because it was for
short periods each day.
“I didn’t really think of it
being damaging,” he said. “I
didn’t think a melanoma or any
sort of skin cancer was ever
going to happen to me.”
He now has an increased risk
and needs regular skin checks.
5
The rise in young people
getting skin cancer prompted
the WA Cancer Council to focus
on youth as part of this week’s
National Skin Cancer Action
Week. Graphic advertisements
will show a melanoma being
removed from a young woman.
Perth dermatologist Allan
Donnelly said people of all ages
had to monitor moles to see if
they grew, changed colour or
developed an irregular border.
He said young people were
shocked when told they had a
melanoma.