No one told me there were risks

Melanoma operation: Debbi Williams, with her husband Mike

AS a teenager in the early 1990s, Debbi Williams began using a sunbed because it made her feel better about the way she looked.

‘I used to go every other week – no one ever told me there were any risks,’ she said yesterday.

Mrs Williams, 47, from Northampton, continued using sunbeds and later stand-up tanning units until the age of 31 when she found a rough patch of skin on one of her buttocks. After it was removed at her GP practice, tests showed it was malignant melanoma. Later, a dermatologist removed tissue around that area.

‘I told the surgeon I never expose that part of myself to the sunshine, but I do use sunbeds,’ she said. ‘He replied, “Well we don’t need to say any more.”’

Mrs Williams, who has a stepdaughter and works for a human resources consultancy, was monitored regularly for five years but fortunately there was no recurrence.