Angela Mollard: There’s an ugly truth to face for those who don’t use sunscreen

The fact there’s nothing pretty about sun cancer is literally written all over Angela Mollard’s face. Yet younger people are blatantly avoiding sunscreen, and ignoring sun safe messages.

Angela Mollard as we know her, left, and after undergoing photodynamic therapy to prevent her sun damage turning into skin cancer, right. .

She was young and fit and half my age.

So when we were partnered in a boot camp class earlier this week I immediately apologised because in all likelihood I was going to slow her down.

“I’m dreading the run because I’m badly sunburnt,” she said, lifting her singlet to reveal a fiery red torso. “It’s the same all over,” she said wincing. “I don’t use sunscreen.”

I DON’T USE SUNSCREEN.

Without wishing to judge, my workout buddy had red hair, blue eyes and pale skin. She’s a burner. But what really alarmed me is that she’s the third person I’ve heard claim they don’t use sunscreen in as many months.

Not cool: A sunburnt back where the sunscreen was missed.

To add insult to stupidity, two days later I was in the changing room at my local swim centre when I heard a trio of teenage girls discussing how they were going to spend the afternoon indulging in some post HSC tanning.

And not from a bottle, but a sun lounger. “I’m going to spend the afternoon working on my tan,” one explained to her mates, pointing out that exams had slowed down her summer glow.

Sid the Seagull’s Slip, Slop, Slap campaign now falls on deaf ears.

Forty years after the legendary Slip, Slop, Slap campaign, it’s clear young people are blatantly ignoring sun safe messages.

And because my observations are backed up by research revealing one in five of those aged 18-24 don’t use any sun protection at all I’m sharing this hideous picture of me after undergoing photodynamic therapy to prevent my sun damage turning into skin cancer.

I’ve had this treatment twice on my face as well as on my chest and hands. It hurts. A lot. It’s not for cosmetic or vanity purposes, it’s a necessary medical procedure where the red marks are an indication of a sun damaged cells which could turn cancerous.

The treatment kills off those cells. It’s also expensive — $800 for my face. I’ve also had surgery to remove two basal cell carcinomas — one cost over $1000 — and I’m vigilant about skin checks. I also take Vitamin B3 which new research is showing can help prevent skin cancers developing.

Deborah Hutton has been vocal about her personal journey with skin cancer. Picture: Tim Hunter.

Both my parents have had melanomas so I see it as an investment in my life. I also feel incredibly lucky. Because while other cancers such as breast, prostate and ovarian develop silently, skin cancer is not only the most common cancer in Australia but the most preventable.

So are we getting the messaging badly wrong or are young people simply vain and cavalier? Whereas education and advertising campaigns have revolutionised attitudes to smoking and seatbelts, sun safety is visibly scorned by my daughters’ generation. Instagram is the home of the golden while TikTok offers millions of videos on how to achieve it.

It’s time we did a scare campaign with skin cancer, not only pointing out that it can kill you but how ugly it can make you look. Skin cancer is like superannuation to teenagers – something in the distance. The loss of their looks is something they care about and can better relate to.

As well as heart-wrenching television advertisements showing a mum or dad dying due to the sun damage caused in their youth, we need an aggressive social media campaign showing nodular malignant melanomas, volcanic-like keratoacanthoma, noses eaten away by squamous cell carcinoma and faces scarred by surgery. As my dermatologist, Dr Nina Wines, from Northern Sydney Dermatology told me, skin cancer doesn’t feel real to this generation but ugliness is a big fear.

A Lentigo Maligna Melanoma on a man’s forehead after a biopsy. There are two stitches holding the biopsy site together..

“I wish they could see what I see,” she says. “If they could see how ugly they are going to look after sun exposure it would be a real deterrent because everyone is so obsessed with how they look.”

She believes Australians are aware of sun safe messages but they ignore them or don’t use sunscreen at the technical level it needs to be applied. They also know fake tan is a better choice but, as she says, they regard a real tan as more desirable.

“You only have to go to the beach at Bondi or Byron Bay and see everyone wearing bikinis and no hats. It’s concerning because we know it’s all cumulative damage and you don’t see the affects until much later in life.”

Former model and TV host Deb Hutton has been vocal about her personal journey with skin cancer, posting her scarred face on Instagram after undergoing extensive surgery. “We cannot treat the sun as our mate,” she cautions. She’s also points out that if the cancer doesn’t kill you it could leave you severely disabled. “The fear shouldn’t be the scar that might be left, the fear should be not getting to (the cancer) in time. Your face will heal or you could lose everything – mouth, nose, ear – you need to communicate with.”

Sid the Seagull first told us to “Slip, Slap Slop” in 1981 and in 2007 the message was updated to Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek, Slide – focusing on seeking shade and wearing sunglasses. But it’s time to go harder and uglier. Because skin cancer isn’t pretty.

PODCAST

Sarah Wilson’s Wild podcast has just dropped a brilliant episode with human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson. She’s represented Julian Assange and led the Amber Heard case and her interview with Wilson is compelling listening.

FILM

Never mind Harry Styles, Emma Corrin (formerly of The Crown) is extraordinary in My Policeman (Prime) a heartbreaking tale of a love triangle in 1950s Britain.

REUSABLE GIFT WRAP

I can’t conscionably use paper so have been seeking out reusable alternatives. Cotton On has a great set for $9.99.

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