EXCLUSIVE: Lauren Linford was diagnosed with skin cancer after ‘pushing’ for her dark mole to be investigated. She’s shared her struggle for treatment – including a GP allegedly recommending sunbeds
A woman hit out at her doctor for saying their mole was “safe” – as she is now battling skin cancer.
Lauren Linford, 32, from Hertfordshire, first noticed a black mark on the top of her foot in 2021. To begin with, the makeup artist thought the mark was dark glitter stuck on her body from doing Halloween glam on a client.
However, after she attempted to scrub it off in the bath, Lauren noticed that is was actually attached to her and on closer inspection realised it was a mole.
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Two years later and a whole lot of self-advocating, Lauren pleaded with doctors to get it removed as she couldn’t shake an insidious feeling. Late 2023, the young businesswoman was called to attend the hospital to discuss her results within the same week as her surgery.
And her worst fears quickly became a terrifying reality after a specialist broke the nightmarish news that she has skin cancer, or a malignant melanoma. Shortly after, Lauren was ushered into a room with a Macmillan Nurse – something that she would never imagine at the age of 32.
Now, as she awaits her results to see if the stage 1 cancer has spread, Lauren is on a mission to raise awareness. She claims she was told by two doctors and a specialist that her mole was safe – even though it was showing tell-tale signs of something more sinister.
And, she’s made the bombshell claim that a doctor suggested she uses sunbeds before holiday so her pale skin can get ‘used to the sun’, despite the official NHS website warning of the increased risk of “developing skin cancer” linked with sunbed use.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Star, Lauren candidly shared: “So two years ago when I was doing Halloween makeup on clients I took a bath and thought I had glitter on my foot because it was that black.
“I went to scratch it off thinking it was glitter and I was like ‘oh my god that’s attached to me’ – how did I not notice that!
“That’s when I booked the doctors appointment and the doctor told me it looks like a ‘pigmentation’ and nothing to worry about, but if it changes colour, size or it becomes risen from the skin then to go back.
“So it actually seemed fine for two years, it was completely flat and black. But when I would go on holiday I would wear extra and stronger SPF on that area I wanted to protect it from sun damage.”
After a doctor allegedly told Lauren that sunbeds were fine to use, she booked herself into the salon before jetting off on holidays to places like Ibiza.
She recalled: “Coming onto three years ago when I went to the doctor to get my moles checked after the first appointment, I said I worry as I’d always burn – guaranteed – even when wearing factor 50.
“The doctor at the time actually advised me to get a few sunbeds before going on holiday to ‘prep’ my skin because it would make me ‘less of a risk’ of burning and ‘less of a risk’ of getting skin cancer.
“After, I was laying there on the sunbed thinking I shouldn’t be on there because I’m so moley and I’m really risking it, but in my head I’m like ‘a doctor told me it’s better that I do this so I don’t burn’.
“So my mind has obviously thinking of two different things, the wrong and right. But technically it’s just wrong all together. It’s put me off going on a sunbed again.”
On average, Lauren goes on two-three holidays a year and would use the tanning machines a month before going abroad. She would do this for 12 rounds ranging from four to 15 minutes a pop to ‘prep’ her skin.
With recommendations for sunbed use coming from a medical professional, Lauren felt like this was safe to do – despite research strongly suggesting otherwise.
However, Lauren has now realised just how potentially damaging the ‘advice’ has been to her health over the last two years.
“Then after going on two holidays in 2023, I found it became risen and I check it quite regularly,” she explained the moment she noticed a change in her mole. “And I tanned quite well last year so I wanted to be more cautious as I had lots of new moles as well.
“So I went back to the doctors in September 2023 and they said the same thing, they just thought it was a pigmentation mole. I didn’t think it was because it changed, it wasn’t flat anymore.
“They said ‘we can refer you if you want’, it wasn’t like they wanted to refer me. I told them to refer me as I wanted to double check.
“They referred me from the doctors to a specialist at the hospital, I spoke to the specialist there and they said the same thing of it being a ‘pigmentation mole’
“I asked for it to be removed as I said it’s a little bit stressful having it on my foot, it was making me overthink things. I’m quite an anxious person anyway so I kept looking at it thinking ‘oh my god what if it’s this, what if it’s that’.”
Lauren continued to push for treatment as she couldn’t put the nagging feeling of worry to bed. As her mind began to spiral and her anxiety grew, the makeup artist begged the specialist to remove it for a biopsy – despite every medical professional telling her that it’s just a ‘pigmentation mole’
But, Lauren’s gut feeling was right. She said: “I felt like I had to push for it, she was pretty adamant that it was a pigmentation mole. The specialist eventually agreed to remove it, so I booked in for it and had it removed.
“Then within the week I had a phone call telling me I need to go back down to the hospital to chat about my results.
“I went down with my mum because it’s not always going to be good news if they tell you to come down to the hospital.
“That’s when they told me the mole came back positive for malignant melanoma and is stage 1.
“So nothing to be totally panicky about it’s something that can be removed. They told me that they’re going to take more tissue from around the area and make sure that it’s all gone and hasn’t spread.
“I was booked in for another surgery a week later to have more tissue to be removed from around the area and it will take 6-8 weeks for results.”
While it’s impossible to pinpoint what exactly caused her skin cancer and at what moment, Lauren said the Macmillan nurse she spoke to on diagnosis was ‘totally shocked’ when they discovered a doctor recommended sunbeds.
“They put me in a room with a Macmillan nurse straight after my results,” Lauren said. “I know they have to do it as protocol but it’s scary as well as they give you the whole cancer chat and told me having one sunbed can make a mole cancerous – which I didn’t know that.
“When I told the Macmillan nurse he was totally shocked, he said it’s completely wrong information and said that no one should be going on sun beds at all. But, that was literally what a doctor advised me.
“I cannot pinpoint the blame of my cancer diagnosis on sun beds or sun exposure, but the Macmillan nurse said it could be either or but most likely sun beds just because of the type of mole it was.
“I thought you had to be someone who worshipped the sun to get something like this. It’s put me off going on a sunbed again.
“I’m still waiting to confirm there’s no melanoma left. Hopefully I’ll be fine.”
According to Cancer Research UK: “Sunbeds are sometimes marketed as a way of getting a ‘safer tan’. But this isn’t true. There is no such thing as safe tanning from UV radiation. If you want to look tanned, use fake tan from a bottle or get a spray tan.
“But having a fake or natural tan doesn’t protect your skin from UV radiation. And using a sunbed before sunbathing won’t prevent you from getting sunburn!
“Too much UV radiation is the third biggest cause of cancer and the main cause of skin cancer in the UK. Every time you use a sunbed you are damaging your skin and increasing your risk of skin cancer.
“The good news is that around 9 in 10 cases of melanoma skin cancer in the UK could be prevented by staying safe in the sun and avoiding sunbeds.”
You can find Lauren on Instagram here.
