‘It stings to put my hand under the tap': Former sunbed user warns of dangers after 12 years of tanning
A woman who used sunbeds three times a week for 12 years has warned others after suffering long-term skin damage.
'I could hardly even put my hands under the tap because it was stinging so much,' Karrieann McDonnell told Good Morning Britain on Friday (April 11).
'I regret having used it so much,' she said, revealing she had to have 18 moles removed.
A 2023 Melanoma Focus survey found 43 per cent of 18- to 25-year-olds in the UK use sunbeds.
Just one session can raise the risk of skin cancer by up to 67 per cent, says the Irish Cancer Society.
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The Sun
a day ago
- The Sun
I became addicted to beauty regime after ‘feeling accepted' but now I'm paying the price – don't make same mistake
A WOMAN has issued a stark warning after a beauty regime she started in her twenties left her needing 19 vital treatments, saying: "I didn't know the damage I was doing". Karrieann McDonnell, from Co Clare, is urging young people not to make the same mistake, or they may regret it in future years. 3 3 3 The 54-year-old fitness fanatic told how she first tried sunbeds as she wanted to look the part for her job. She said: "When I started out on the sunbed when I was in my late twenties, I was a strawberry blonde, fair skinned with freckles. "When I got into the fitness industry then, we had a sunbed on the premises. "It became very popular as it would have been back then in those days. "And being young and impressionable, you want to be part of the team but having fair skin and freckles wasn't the look back then. "When you're in fitness, it's about looking good, it's about feeling confident. It's all about the image and having that sun-kissed glow. "I taught a lot of classes, I was on stage we'll say. So like any performer, you have to look good. "When I started out, I was quieter, I was a mother, I was a parent, you know, a family woman who grew up quiet in herself. "And then as time kind of went on, I became popular. And I thought, 'Oh, OK, so I have to look this good to be accepted'. And Karrieann gradually built up the time she was spending under the lamp in a bid to get the best results. MAINTAIN COLOUR She added: "When I started out on the sunbed, it would have been like five minutes to start. "That went on for a couple of weeks and I was going nowhere fast. "So then I went on to six minutes, eight minutes, ten minutes and again, that was over the time. "Over the years then, I had built it up to 20 minutes, and that would have been maybe twice a week, once a week, depending on the time of year. "It would have been weekly because being so fair, I had to keep doing them to maintain some sort of colour. "But little did I know the damage I was doing because the knowledge wasn't there. "Everyone's skin is different and if you have dark skin you're going to tan better. "You're going to take to the sun differently compared to someone who's fair." SKIN OPS Karrieann has dealt with the damage caused by sunbeds over the last few years. She said: "I have had 19 different melanomas removed, be that from surgery, the light treatment, and then nitrogen freeze. "They're all melanomas, but just different stages of them. "They're also called BCCs, which is basal cell carcinoma, and skin damage is caused by BCCs from overuse of either UV or too much sun. "And if they're not treated they grow deeper into your skin hence the growths that you have on your body. "But when you have women, we're all about our appearance if we're all honest and in particular our face. NO SPF "All the money we spend on creams for our face and SPF has only come out in the last how many years. "When I started wearing makeup when I was 14, what was SPF? There was no such thing. "That really didn't come out, I suppose, until the 90s and maybe the early 2000s. All because social media has created 'SPF this' and 'SPF that' and 'mind your face and all that'. "But when you're 18 and impressionable and 20 onwards, you don't know what SPF is. "You don't know how to mind your skin until you get later in life." KEY SIGNS OF MELANOMA THE most common sign of melanoma is the appearance of a new mole or a change in an existing mole. Most experts recommend using the simple 'ABCDE' rule to look for symptoms of melanoma skin cancer, which can appear anywhere on the body. Asymmetrical – melanomas usually have two very different halves and are an irregular shape Border – melanomas usually have a notched or ragged border Colours – melanomas will usually be a mix of two or more colours Diameter – most melanomas are usually larger than 6mm in diameter Enlargement or elevation – a mole that changes size over time is more likely to be a melanoma And she said if she could turn back time she wouldn't have touched a sunbed. She added: "I mean, when you're young, you're not going to be told and you're not going to listen. You're going to have to find out the hard way. "And unfortunately, that's not going to happen until later life, because if I had known then what I know now, I most certainly wouldn't have done the damage that I have done to myself. "But luckily I have been fortunate that I haven't had cancer, but the skin damage that I have, I won't say that I like it. I have it. I do try to get treatments done with it." 'TAN FADES, DAMAGE DOESN'T' Karrieann said she now opts for fake tan instead, saying "tan fades, damage doesn't". She said: "Some days when I put tan on, it looks worse than other days, and because I do try to tone it down as much as I can. "Because, let's face it, who likes looking at leathery, botched up skin when you'd really rather love to have silky smooth beautiful skin. "That's where age comes into it, when you're doing all these sunbeds when you're younger and you're not aware of the damage, but if you are aware, all good and well. "But when you're not aware, a lot of young ladies have approached me over the last few weeks, and thanked me for bringing the awareness. "Some of them actually have decided not to do any more sunbeds, but I've clearly said to them, 'I'm not telling you to do anything'. "I said, 'I'm just bringing the awareness, you still have the choice to make yourself.'" STATS Health chiefs said that about 11,000 people are diagnosed with skin cancer each year. And it is the most common cancer in Ireland. However, a recent report published by the National Cancer Registry Ireland shows that the survival rate for most cases is nearly 100 per cent. It says that about 9 out of 10 cases are non-melanoma skin cancers, and other types include melanoma. Men are more likely to die from skin cancer than women, and about 270 people die from skin cancer each year in Ireland. Director of the National Cancer Registry, Prof. Deirdre Murray, said: "Understanding the trends in skin cancer is vital for public health awareness and prevention strategies. "Many of these cancers could be prevented with wider adoption of safe sun practices in our population and avoidance of sunbeds." Skin cancer is more common in people over 50 but you can get melanoma skin cancer at any age.
Leader Live
4 days ago
- Leader Live
‘Cover-ups' surrounding care of Nottingham attack killer, victim's mother claims
Valdo Calocane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, killed three people – 19-year-old students Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber and 65-year-old caretaker Ian Coates – and attempted to kill three more in Nottingham in June 2023. A February report into the care received by Calocane detailed how he was not forced to have long-lasting antipsychotic medication because he did not like needles, and how other patients at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust also went on to commit 'extremely serious' acts of violence. Families of the victims met with Health Secretary Wes Streeting on Monday and said they told him they want the names of staff involved in treating Calocane to be made public. Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain on the second anniversary of the attack, Barnaby Webber's mother Emma Webber said of Calocane's care: 'We quite often say, imagine anything that could go wrong, did go wrong and Wes Streeting actually, to quote him, he said 'sunlight is the best disinfectant'. 'That's appropriate but, actually, I would say it's simpler than that. 'I think truth is and once you've got the truth, then you've got somewhere to begin, and we're still getting cover-ups, we're still getting mistruths and we're still getting those push-aside emails 'well, the trust will deal with that, or the inquiry will deal with that'. 'But, no, we're not going to stop. 'I don't know when they'll learn that we will not stop until we get those answers.' Ms Webber added that the families' calls for transparency were 'not a witch hunt'. She said: 'I'm sure it can come across that we as families are just so vociferous in finding answers and trying to deal with our grief and our anger and rage at what happened. 'But it's much deeper than that, and it's greater than that, because there are individuals out there that they're posing a risk themselves, but they're posing a risk to the public, and we're not on a witch hunt in what we're doing. 'We do have the statutory inquiry coming up but that shouldn't stop individuals who, just as basic as failing to do their jobs properly, from being held to account, and that's through the professional means. 'I cannot understand how the NHS have not been able to confirm that anyone has had any disciplinary action against them for what they did or didn't do during his care.' Grace O'Malley-Kumar's father, Dr Sanjoy Kumar, told the programme that the families do not have 'detailed answers' and called for 'full transparency' and 'true accountability'. He said: 'At this juncture, I think it's turned into a national representation case for us, because I think what we've realised is that every family that goes through a horrific tragedy like us, they're not given answers, and they're given a lot of kerfuffle about what happened when, that's all very interesting, the timelines are interesting, but what we want is true accountability. 'Because when we have accountability, we can then have change and positive change for the country, and we've not had that, and that's been really, really frustrating.' Calocane was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in January 2024 after admitting manslaughter by diminished responsibility and attempted murder. He was admitted to hospital and sectioned under the Mental Health Act four times between 2020 and 2022 because of his violent behaviour and refusal to take his medication, before NHS services lost track of him and discharged him in the months before the attacks. Three reports, including one by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), described failings in his care but none included practitioners' names, Dr Kumar said after meeting Mr Streeting. On Friday, the families of the victims will hold a memorial walk through Nottingham to remember their loved ones two years after their deaths. They will meet at St Paul's Church in Lenton Road at 11.30am before walking to the two locations of the attacks. During the interview with Good Morning Britain, Ms Webber said she had a 'visceral reaction' to returning to the city, adding that 'feels almost like it was yesterday' that the attack happened. She added that the group wanted to 'walk in peace and love', and that anyone who wanted to join was 'very welcome'. In a statement, Ifti Majid, chief executive of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: 'We are committed to giving our fullest co-operation and support to the Nottingham Inquiry which has already begun to request documentary evidence from ourselves and other organisations in relation to the devastating events of June 2023. 'It would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.' The Department of Health and Social Care has been contacted for comment.
South Wales Argus
4 days ago
- South Wales Argus
‘Cover-ups' surrounding care of Nottingham attack killer, victim's mother claims
Valdo Calocane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, killed three people – 19-year-old students Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber and 65-year-old caretaker Ian Coates – and attempted to kill three more in Nottingham in June 2023. A February report into the care received by Calocane detailed how he was not forced to have long-lasting antipsychotic medication because he did not like needles, and how other patients at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust also went on to commit 'extremely serious' acts of violence. Families of the victims met with Health Secretary Wes Streeting on Monday and said they told him they want the names of staff involved in treating Calocane to be made public. The family of Grace O'Malley-Kumar, parents Dr Sanjoy Kumar (centre) and Dr Sinead O'Malley (left), met Health Secretary Wes Streeting on Monday (Aaron Chown/PA) Speaking on ITV's Good Morning Britain on the second anniversary of the attack, Barnaby Webber's mother Emma Webber said of Calocane's care: 'We quite often say, imagine anything that could go wrong, did go wrong and Wes Streeting actually, to quote him, he said 'sunlight is the best disinfectant'. 'That's appropriate but, actually, I would say it's simpler than that. 'I think truth is and once you've got the truth, then you've got somewhere to begin, and we're still getting cover-ups, we're still getting mistruths and we're still getting those push-aside emails 'well, the trust will deal with that, or the inquiry will deal with that'. 'But, no, we're not going to stop. 'I don't know when they'll learn that we will not stop until we get those answers.' Ms Webber added that the families' calls for transparency were 'not a witch hunt'. She said: 'I'm sure it can come across that we as families are just so vociferous in finding answers and trying to deal with our grief and our anger and rage at what happened. 'But it's much deeper than that, and it's greater than that, because there are individuals out there that they're posing a risk themselves, but they're posing a risk to the public, and we're not on a witch hunt in what we're doing. 'We do have the statutory inquiry coming up but that shouldn't stop individuals who, just as basic as failing to do their jobs properly, from being held to account, and that's through the professional means. 'I cannot understand how the NHS have not been able to confirm that anyone has had any disciplinary action against them for what they did or didn't do during his care.' Grace O'Malley-Kumar's father, Dr Sanjoy Kumar, told the programme that the families do not have 'detailed answers' and called for 'full transparency' and 'true accountability'. The family of Grace O'Malley-Kumar, parents Dr Sanjoy Kumar (centre) and Dr Sinead O'Malley (left) and the sons of Ian Coates, Lee Coates (2nd right) and James Coates (right) (Aaron Chown/PA) He said: 'At this juncture, I think it's turned into a national representation case for us, because I think what we've realised is that every family that goes through a horrific tragedy like us, they're not given answers, and they're given a lot of kerfuffle about what happened when, that's all very interesting, the timelines are interesting, but what we want is true accountability. 'Because when we have accountability, we can then have change and positive change for the country, and we've not had that, and that's been really, really frustrating.' Calocane was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in January 2024 after admitting manslaughter by diminished responsibility and attempted murder. He was admitted to hospital and sectioned under the Mental Health Act four times between 2020 and 2022 because of his violent behaviour and refusal to take his medication, before NHS services lost track of him and discharged him in the months before the attacks. Three reports, including one by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), described failings in his care but none included practitioners' names, Dr Kumar said after meeting Mr Streeting. On Friday, the families of the victims will hold a memorial walk through Nottingham to remember their loved ones two years after their deaths. They will meet at St Paul's Church in Lenton Road at 11.30am before walking to the two locations of the attacks. During the interview with Good Morning Britain, Ms Webber said she had a 'visceral reaction' to returning to the city, adding that 'feels almost like it was yesterday' that the attack happened. She added that the group wanted to 'walk in peace and love', and that anyone who wanted to join was 'very welcome'. In a statement, Ifti Majid, chief executive of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: 'We are committed to giving our fullest co-operation and support to the Nottingham Inquiry which has already begun to request documentary evidence from ourselves and other organisations in relation to the devastating events of June 2023. 'It would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.' The Department of Health and Social Care has been contacted for comment.
