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Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nA woman with stage four skin cancer is advocating for the UK government to prohibit sunbeds after she was diagnosed with melanoma at just 23 years old.<\/p>\n
Lily Murphy, 30, from Watford, says she used sunbeds fewer than 10 times in her life before her diagnosis with stage 1B melanoma following a trip to South East Asia with friends.<\/p>\n
After receiving the all-clear from her initial diagnosis, Lily began experiencing back and chest pain in 2023, which was initially dismissed as anxiety before further scans and blood tests confirmed she had stage four melanoma.<\/p>\n
She is expected to undergo lifelong treatment after the disease spread to her neck and lungs.<\/p>\n
While working as an NHS administrative clerk in Watford General Hospital\u2019s dermatology department, Lily has witnessed an increase in young people being referred for cancer biopsies, many of whom have a history of sunbed use.<\/p>\n
In light of her professional and personal experiences, Lily is petitioning the government to ban sunbeds in the UK, copying similar legislation in Brazil and Australia, arguing that the cost is too high to the individuals and an already overburdened NHS.<\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Lily and best friend Jade in Cyprus (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\u201cI\u2019ve probably used sunbeds for less than an hour in total,\u201d Lily said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust going on a sunbed for six minutes can change your whole life, plus it costs the NHS: immunotherapy can cost \u00a315,000 per round.<\/p>\n
\u201dIf I could stop just one person using sunbeds to save them going through what I\u2019ve been through, it will be a miracle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lily first noticed a mole in 2018 that had darkened and started to bleed, but was told by doctors that it wasn\u2019t anything to worry about.<\/p>\n
Reassured, she went travelling to Vietnam and Bali with friends, using sunbeds beforehand to get a base tan.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was literally just, \u2018Let\u2019s start my tan before I go on holiday\u2019, just a couple of minutes here, a couple of minutes there, just to get the tan going,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Lily covering up in the sun in Mexico (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nWhile on holiday, she did use sun cream to protect herself from the sun\u2019s UV rays.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I\u2019m very fair-skinned, I\u2019d always get burnt no matter what, even if I put it on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI probably wasn\u2019t as cautious as I would be now; now I\u2019m putting it on every couple of hours, whereas before I was probably putting it on once or twice a day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Upon her return to the UK, Lily went back to the doctor for a second opinion on her mole.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when the doctor said, \u2018This doesn\u2019t look right, I\u2019m going to refer you to the two-week cancer pathway\u2019,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
She had the mole removed and was called back for an appointment two weeks later.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere were two Macmillan Cancer nurses in there too\u2026 that\u2019s when they said to me it\u2019s come back as melanoma, stage 1B.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was shocked, I was devastated. But as there was a delay between the call and the appointment, by the time I saw the doctor, it had actually sunk in a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Lily in hospital with a scar (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nStage 1B melanoma is one of the earliest stages of skin cancer, meaning that it has not yet spread to nearby lymph nodes or other parts of the body, and it is generally highly curable, which meant Lily was optimistic about getting the all-clear after treatment.<\/p>\n
Lily was the youngest person in her cancer support group.<\/p>\n
She had a wide local excision and a central lymph node biopsy at the Royal Free Hospital in London in 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt felt like such a relief to hear that the cancer hadn\u2019t spread \u2013 my cancer journey might have been short, it was only a couple of months, but I said to myself, \u2018I\u2019ve beaten it\u2019,\u201d said Lily.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did think I\u2019ve got another chance in life; let\u2019s just go and have fun, just going on holidays, nights out and just appreciating everyone around me and spending as much time with everyone as possible, because life is so short.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was after a family weekend at a log cabin in Gloucestershire in January 2023 that she started to feel unwell again.<\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Lily and the dermatology surgeon at the work Christmas party (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\u201cI was just constantly tired, and I couldn\u2019t understand why,\u201d Lily said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe following weekend I worked overtime and had back pain, so I thought I\u2019d sat uncomfortably or something but then I woke up the next morning and had really bad chest pain and couldn\u2019t breathe, and said to my mum it feels like something\u2019s not right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite repeated trips to A&E, Lily\u2019s concerns were dismissed as anxiety, linked to her mental health history.<\/p>\n
Eventually, through her mum, who also works at Watford General, she was booked for scans and blood tests in a different department, which led to a Stage 4 melanoma diagnosis.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said we\u2019ve found some masses in your lungs and your neck,\u201d Lily said. <\/p>\n
Doctors explained that in rare cases like hers, melanoma can spread via the blood and not show on the scans she had done during her first cancer experience.<\/p>\n
With new treatments, some people are living with stage four melanoma for a long time, according to Cancer Research UK.<\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Lily won an Inspirational Colleague award at Watford General Hospital for her endurance during her treatment (Collect\/PA Real Life)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nLily began immunotherapy treatment in April 2023, but struggled to tolerate the doses required, with each round costing the NHS \u00a315,000.<\/p>\n
She then tried two oral chemotherapy treatments but developed a severe allergic reaction within 10 days, including a rash that spread down her throat.<\/p>\n
Lily later developed sepsis, caused by a weakened immune system, and was taken to hospital.<\/p>\n
In February 2025, she started a new treatment that has already begun shrinking her cancer, despite only managing four of the recommended 12 tablets per day.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m taking a break from treatment at the moment, because it\u2019s just too much on my body,\u201d Lily said.<\/p>\n
Now on a phased return to work, she\u2019s back booking skin cancer biopsies.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs much as it\u2019s triggering, it\u2019s rewarding \u2013 I can help people because I\u2019ve had the experience of the worry,\u201d Lily said.<\/p>\n
Her petition, Ban Sun Beds to Protect Against Skin Cancer in the UK, launched in May and has already gained more than 700 signatures.<\/p>\n\nMain symptoms of melanoma skin cancer<\/h2>\nNHS<\/h3>\nA new mole or a change in an existing mole may be a sign of melanoma.<\/p>\n
Melanomas are often:<\/p>\n