SUNSHINE, PARADISE AND HIDDEN DANGER

NORTH Queensland is regularly described as paradise. We’ve got sun, sand, sweltering hot days, beautiful palm trees and the stunning Magnetic Island. But with the beauty comes a secret danger.

North Queenslanders’ outdoor lifestyle comes with a brilliant tan (or burn for some of us) – but also a high chance of skin cancer.

Health professionals are always urging patients to look for anything new, changing or unusual on exposed and sun-protected areas of the body. While most moles, brown spots and growths on the skin are harmless, some are not.

When Mount Isa mum Terri Grosser flagged a mole with her GP, they said it was fine.

But a few months later, the mole was itchy and bleeding. With the mum-of-three just desperate to get some relief, she returned to the doctor to have it removed.

It was that moment that led to a years-long battle with melanoma.

She’s had countless surgeries, two years of immunotherapy and the cancer is still plaguing her life.