Mum who used sunbeds before holidays urges caution after cancer

New mum, 34, who used sunbeds throughout her 20s to get a tan before sun holidays three times a year reveals ‘freckle with a tail’ on her leg turned out to be melanoma

• Nicola Rudge, 34, from Port Glasgow, went on two or three holidays a year and forked out on 60-minute sunbeds in pursuit of a glow before her sunny trips 
• When abroad she would wear low-factor sun cream or avoid it all together
• New mum was diagnosed with melanoma soon after giving birth to baby Finlay
• Her mum died of a brain tumour caused by melanoma 7 years ago while her Dad died of bladder cancer last year

A new mum who used sunbeds to get a pre-holiday glow has been diagnosed with melanoma – the same skin cancer that killed her mum.

Jetsetter Nicola Rudge, 34, from Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, enjoyed going on two or three holidays a year and regularly forked out for a 60-minute tanning package in pursuit of a golden glow ahead of her trips.

‘Naturally pale’ Nicola would hop on the sunbeds five or six times before jetting off in a bid to feel more confident rocking a bikini and shorts on the beach.

While abroad aesthetic clinic owner Nicola, who is mum to seven-month-old Finlay Rudge, would enjoy days around the pool sipping cocktails or on the beach, admitting she didn’t always slather on even low-factor sunscreen. 

Last Christmas the mum-of-one discovered a dark raised freckle on her right thigh that appeared to have a ‘tail’ and, mindful of her mum’s melanoma diagnosis, she went to the GP. 

Jetsetter Nicola Rudge (left), 34, from Port Glasgow, Inverclyde, enjoyed going on two or three holidays a year and regularly forked out for a 60-minute tanning package in pursuit of a golden glow ahead of her trips

‘Naturally pale’ Nicola would hop on the sunbeds five or six times before jetting off in a bid to feel more confident rocking a bikini and shorts on the beach – but now has melanoma

Nicola’s mum Elizabeth Rudge, who had been a GP practice manager, died 11 years ago aged 53 from a brain tumour.

This was a secondary cancer caused by melanoma that is believed to have started in a large dark mole on her arm she’d had since a teenager that she never got checked out.

Last year her dad William Rudge died last year of advanced bladder cancer. 

The doctor referred pharmacist Nicola to hospital where skin specialists assessed and then whipped off the mole before sending it off for a biopsy.

Three weeks later Nicola was given the devastating news that the mole was cancerous and she had stage 1B melanoma.

Last Christmas the mum-of-one discovered a dark raised freckle on her right thigh that appeared to have a ‘tail’ and, mindful of her mum’s melanoma diagnosis, she went to the GP

What is Melanoma?  

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that can spread to other organs in the body.

The most common sign of melanoma is the appearance of a new mole or a change in an existing mole. This can happen anywhere on the body, but the most commonly affected areas are the back in men and the legs in women.

In most cases, melanomas have an irregular shape and are more than one colour. The mole may also be larger than normal and can sometimes be itchy or bleed. Look out for a mole that gradually changes shape, size or colour.

In most cases, once the melanoma has been removed there’s little possibility of it returning and no further treatment should be needed. Most people (80 to 90%) are monitored for one to five years and are then discharged with no further problems.

Nicola underwent a second surgery where she had a further excision around the original mole, a lymph node biopsy and another freckle on her arm removed as a precaution.

Now waiting to hear back on her results, Nicola is sharing her experience to urge people to be careful in the sun, be vigilant of any changes in moles and freckles and get them checked out.

Nicola said: ‘I started going on sunbeds in my early 20s.

‘I wasn’t a regular sunbed user, I would just go at least five or six times before going on holiday and would get a package of 60 minutes.

‘I do quite like my holidays. I tend to go on holiday two or three times a year, but that may change now because I’ve got my son.

‘I’m quite pale naturally, I think having that base tan makes you feel a bit more confident.

‘It makes you feel a bit better when you’re putting on your bikini or swimsuit and you’re wearing shorts.

‘I still wear fake tan as well. I just felt when I was going on holiday I liked to have a natural tan.

‘Sunbathing was part of my enjoyment while I was on holiday too. Particularly when you’re away with the girls it’s part and parcel of these types of holidays – chilling by the pool with a cocktail or going down to the beach.

 ‘I would wear sunscreen, it was usually quite a low factor, sometimes if we were a bit hungover we maybe wouldn’t bother putting any on, which is obviously terrible.’

While abroad aesthetic clinic owner Nicola, who is mum to seven-month-old Finlay Rudge, (pictured) would enjoy days around the pool sipping cocktails or on the beach, admitting she didn’t always slather on even low-factor sunscreen.

Nicola underwent a second surgery where she had a further excision around the original mole, a lymph node biopsy and another freckle on her arm removed as a precaution. She is pictured on holiday

Nicola’s mum Elizabeth Rudge, who had been a GP practice manager, died 11 years ago aged 53 from a brain tumour. She is pictured with her Dad, who died last year, and brother in the early 90s

Now waiting to hear back on her results, Nicola, pictured with her step- mum, is sharing her experience to urge people to be careful in the sun, be vigilant of any changes in moles and freckles and get them checked out.

Last year her dad William Rudge died last year of advanced bladder cancer. She is pictured with her dad and step-mum

Nicola (right) is pictured on holiday with friends in Croatia. She went on holiday two or three times a year

After more than a decade symptom-free, in December 2020 Nicola felt a freckle on her leg through her tights as she changed outfits.

Nicola said: ‘At Christmas time I felt a freckle on my right thigh. I was just getting changed, I had tights on and I could feel it through them.

‘I remember thinking ‘that feels a bit strange’ it felt raised where it had never been before. I’ve probably had this freckle for a long, long time but it hadn’t done anything to alarm me.

‘Over Christmas I was wearing a lot of leggings because I was running about after the baby and we weren’t going anywhere and I could always feel it through my leggings.

‘When I examined it it was really dark and it had a wee tail on it, it was weird. I just knew it wasn’t right and it had definitely changed.’

After more than a decade symptom-free, in December 2020 Nicola felt a freckle on her leg through her tights as she changed outfits. She was injected with blue dye that travels up the leg to highlight lymphnodes 

Nicole’s stitches are pictured after her mole was removed.  Nicola contacted her GP on 4th February and although the doctor wasn’t overly concerned, due to her family history she was referred to Inverclyde Royal Hospital for an appointment on 9th February .

Nicola contacted her GP on 4th February and although the doctor wasn’t overly concerned, due to her family history she was referred to Inverclyde Royal Hospital for an appointment on 9th February .

There, specialists assessed the mole, and on February 24th it was removed and sent it off for a biopsy.

On 19th March later Nicola was told she had melanoma and that she needed another surgical excision op on April 22nd at Glasgow Royal Infirmary and biopsies on lymph nodes nearest to the mole to check the melanoma hadn’t spread further.

Nicola said: ‘My heart sank when I got a phone call three weeks later asking me to go in and see the doctor the next day, I just knew.

‘At that point I just thought, “let’s think the worst here”.

On 19th March later Nicola was told she had melanoma and that she needed another surgical excision op on April 22nd at Glasgow Royal Infirmary and biopsies on lymph nodes nearest to the mole to check the melanoma hadn’t spread further. She is pictured in hospital 

Nicola is pictured with her Dad, William Rudge, who died of cancer last year

‘Prior to seeing her I’d done the things that you shouldn’t do like Google things about melanoma.

‘Even though my mum had had it I’d never fully gone into what it was, such as the different stages.

‘Because I went in half expecting her to tell me this news I just took it on board.

‘When she told me it was stage 1B melanoma obviously I was gutted but I remember thinking “this isn’t the end of the world”, I was trying to stay as positive as I could.

‘[After my diagnosis] I had a second operation at Glasgow Royal Infirmary where they did a wider excision round the biopsy area, they removed a wee mole on my arm and they did a lymph node biopsy.

‘My wounds were checked last week and are all looking fine, and get my results back in two weeks’ time. The hope is that everything comes back all-clear.

‘Getting it done was a no-brainer, especially because of Finlay. I want to know, I want to secure his future and I want to see him grow up.’

Nicola, pictured sunbathing before her diagnosis, shared her experience in a Facebook post urging friends to be vigilant of any changes in freckles and moles and to get them checked out

Nicola shared her experience in a Facebook post urging friends to be vigilant of any changes in freckles and moles and to get them checked out.

The post reads: ‘My melanoma journey so far… This is a cancer which I have been all too familiar with for some time in my life. Not because of myself but this was what my mum was diagnosed with.

‘It was a brain tumour which killed her 11 years ago but the primary cancer was melanoma. So you think I’d be astute to the dangers, that I would be more careful…wrong!

‘I still continued to have the occasional sunbed before a holiday or sit in the sun without sun factor on aiming for a lovely brown colour which I never did quite get!

Nicola said she was sharing her experience so no-one else has to go through what she has

‘If only I could have a really stern word with my twenty-something self! Aileen and my dad would gently remind me of my family history but as always I never did listen. […]

‘This is the point I’m at now… waiting for my results. Something which will determine how my path will lead this year.

‘Having a baby does take my mind off this for a while but it’s always there eating away. Playing out scenarios in my head if it’s bad news, or even if it’s good news and where I go from here.

‘It all comes down to percentages, the lucky 90 per cent whose lymph nodes are clear or the unlucky 10 my surgeon called it. I try to be optimistic but I also need to be realistic too.

‘Melanoma is dangerous, it’s scary and it’s real. It can affect any age, any gender at any time. It doesn’t discriminate.

‘I’m definitely not here to preach, everyone is in control of their own actions and I absolutely don’t judge.

‘I just know how vigilant I will be from now on, how careful I’m gonna be in the sun and mindful of my own body, freckles, moles and all.

‘This was not hereditary for me either, I’m told it was just a very awful coincidence that both myself and my mum had this.

‘I am also not trying to evoke sympathy but I think it’s really important to spread awareness.

‘The dermatologist told me more and more young people are coming through her doors with this awful silent disease. Silent because you can have it and there can be no symptoms at all.

‘I wouldn’t want anyone to go through this especially when it’s so preventable in the first place.

Nicola’s mum, Elizabeth Rudge and her dad, William Rudge, who have both passed away, are pictured

Thanks for reading this if you managed to get to the end! And if you find me I’ll be in Boots checking out the fake tan from now on.’

Nicola said she was sharing her experience so no-one else has to go through what she has.

Nicola said: ‘Despite me knowing the risks and losing my mum to this I still was pretty complacent.

‘Through doing aesthetics, a lot of my clients have been posting stuff about going back on the sunbeds.

‘It’s so dangerous, I wish I could turn back time but I can’t. I just want to make people aware that it’s dangerous and it can happen to anybody.

‘Everybody’s in control of their own bodies, I don’t want to preach to people, but I just want to make people aware.

‘Since sharing this I’ve had one or two people say they’ve spotted a mole and are going to get them checked out.

‘It’s good to spread the word, and if that means someone going getting checked out then that’s great.

‘The sooner the better with this as well because it can spread quite quickly so you need to be really vigilant.’

A British Skin Foundation spokesman said: ‘77% of dermatologists agreed that sunbeds should be banned in the UK in 2019.

‘The dermatologists’ opinions appear to support research stating the potential to get skin cancer, including melanoma is increased in those who have also used sunbeds.

‘We know there is no such thing as a safe tan from UV rays, therefore, the British Skin Foundation, in line with other health organisations does not recommend sunbed use.’ 

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