A tanning addict who survived cancer has been diagnosed with the disease again after going back to using sunbeds.

Carmen Oakes admits she was ‘stupid’ to squander her ‘second chance at life’ by continuing to visit tanning salons regularly.

Carmen, 48, was told a red-coloured mole on her back was cancerous in 2014.

She was given the all-clear after a successful operation.

However, despite the health scare, Carmen continued using sunbeds almost every week.

In January this year, doctors found a four-inch mass in her right lung and delivered the devastating news that she has stage four metastatic melanoma.

Now Carmen is speaking out to urge others not to make the same mistake.

The mum-of-two, from Portsmouth, Hampshire, told Mail Online: ‘I was playing with fire, but me being stupid, I thought “oh well, they’ve just cut it out”.

‘I had a second chance in life so I still went back on [tanning beds].

‘I should never have gone back on them.’

Carmen warned of the potentially deadly consequences of using tanning salons: ‘Please don’t think a tan is more important than having your life.

‘Those sunbeds damage your skin. They age you and kill you.’

Carmen began using sunbeds with her sister aged 15.

She has been visiting salons around once a week for the past 20 years.

Her daughter Chloe Jones, 26, noticed the mole on her mum’s back in 2014 and urged her to go to a doctor.

She started to experience pain in her shoulders and arms in September 2021 but blood tests and visits to a rheumatologist could not identify the issue.

She went to A&E after waking up with ‘excruciating’ pain on the left side of her chest, when doctors found fluid around her lung.

A CT scan in January this year revealed a mass in her left lung, which was later confirmed to be cancerous.

The following month, medics confirmed Carmen had metastatic melanoma whichhad returned from her previous diagnosis.

And in a further blow, they said they could not remove the tumour as it was attached to her blood vessels and heart chambers.

Carmen went on immunotherapy treatment, during which drugs are injected to control the tumour, reducing it by half in March.

She described her gratitude on social media: ‘Today I got my scan results, I received the best news ever.

‘Doesn’t mean I [will] ever be cured…but if I keep getting results like this I could live a good life.’

And she warned: ‘Please keep safe in the sun.

‘This skin cancer is a killer and please don’t be fooled by sunbeds, they are the worst things ever and also the can cause it too.

‘Please keep safe.’

Now Carmen is determined to stay positive and enjoy daily activities including going to the gym.

‘Even though I’m supposedly stage four, I can still go to all my classes and sometimes I think have they made a mistake, because I feel alright?

‘I’ve been alright so far, I think having a positive attitude has really helped me a lot.

‘I’ll do whatever I can to stay alive.’

Two sisters who were diagnosed with skin cancer at the same time have also urged people to be aware of the risks.

Sarah Burnside, 24, went to the GP after finding two suspicious moles on her foot and leg, when she was told she had a deadly form of skin cancer.

Younger sibling Rhianne Smith, 19, decided to get moles on her face checked after her sister’s diagnosis – when she learned she also had melanoma skin cancer.  

Rhianne said: ‘Never in a million years when I was using the sunbed did I think I’d be diagnosed with skin cancer but I’m 19 and I’ve had to have a mole cut out of my face and I’ll be scarred forever now.’

Sarah added: ‘I’ve learned since that even just one sunbed session can increase the risk of skin cancer.

‘Don’t think it’s never going to happen to you.’

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It is illegal for people under 18 to use sunbeds, with many emitting stronger UV rays than the midday tropical sun, according to the NHS website.

People frequently exposed to UV rays before the age of 25 are at a greater risk of developing skin cancer later in life.

Sunburn in childhood can greatly increase the risk of developing skin cancer in adulthood, the website says.

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