Tanning addict: “I’ve had skin cancer – but I’m still a sun worshipper”
Mum Sarah Boyton knows the risks after having life-saving surgery, but that won’t stop her sunbathing
When the temperature rises, Sarah Boyton loves to spend up to eight hours a day on her sun lounger. And if she feels like she’s burning, she reaches for lowprotection Factor 6 sun lotion. It’s risky behaviour for anyone but, shockingly, the mum of two is a skin cancer survivor, and despite doctors warning her to stay out of the sun – or risk the cancer returning – Sarah says she can’t help herself.
ADDICTION
Cafe manager Sarah, 51, from north London, admits, “I love the feeling of the heat on my skin. I know I shouldn’t go out in the sun, but I can’t help myself.” Sarah was diagnosed with skin cancer in October 2016, after doctors noticed a lump on her cheek. She says, “I had my first operation to remove it a couple of weeks later, but they didn’t manage to get it all and told me I needed to come back urgently for a second operation, but I was booked to go to Ibiza so I went there first – and sunbathed. When I returned with my post-holiday tan, my surgeon was very angry. It’s a real addiction, though.”
Sarah says she was never taught about the danger of exposure to the sun when she was younger.
“I have little recollection of my parents ever putting cream on me and I’d regularly get burnt on summer holidays. We just didn’t know about UVA rays and the damage they cause then,” she explains. “From the age of 17, I’d hire sunbeds to use at home and I’d lie under them for hours. I’d even sunbathe with olive oil.”
Sarah – mum to Amy, 28, and Jack, who tragically died five years ago in a car crash aged 17 – says, “By the time I had children, there was more awareness about the dangers, so I’d slather them in sun cream. But I’d never using anything above Factor 10.”
Sarah used sunbeds twice a week before giving them up seven years ago. But she still sunbathes on sunny days in the UK and holidays abroad at least twice a year.
DANGEROUS
She says, “I’m still in denial about the risks, despite having a part of my face cut out. Doctors did manage to remove all the cancer after the second op – leaving a scar – but told me that I had a propensity to skin cancer and needed to stay out of the sun or wear total block. I do put Factor 50 under my eyes, where the cancer was, as it hurts if it’s in the sun. But last year, I sunbathed constantly, and so far this year I’ve been to Morocco. I might start the holiday with good intentions and apply Factor 10 on my body, but I’m down to Factor 6 by the end.
“My friends and daughter get so cross with me, and I do feel ashamed. I always tell myself that next time the sun comes out I’ll be sensible. But even earlier this month, when it was blisteringly hot, I couldn’t resist. I feel much better and, ironically, I think I look so much healthier with a tan!”
Rachel Abbott, Consultant Dermatologist & British Skin Foundation spokesperson, says, “One third of patients with the most common type of skin cancer will develop secondary cancer in three years. When choosing a sunscreen, opt for a high factor SPF 30 or more with a 4 or 5 star UVA rating. Seek shade from 11am to 3pm, when the UV rays are strongest, and reapply lotion at least every two hours and after swimming.”