An Australian father has taken to Facebook to warn others about the dangers of unprotected sunbathing, after he lost a huge "slab" of skin following a skin cancer diagnosis, Yahoo News has reported.
After losing a friend to melanoma, 37-year-old Ryan Glossop was advised by a friend to visit a doctor in order to have a freckle on the back of his neck inspected. Sadly, the Perth-native was diagnosed with skin cancer, and was forced to undergo several procedures in order to completely rid himself of the disease.
Following minor surgeries in the area, tests continued to come back negative, and so doctors made the decision to remove a large part of his neck and back. A strip of skin 40cm (15.7") long and 8cm (3.1") wide was grafted from the health and safety advisor's legs in order to cover the surface on his neck.
After entering recovery, Glossop is now speaking out about his ordeal, in an effort to deter sun worshippers from suffering the same fate or even worse. Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, Glossop says he wants to use this "opportunity to motivate at least one person to have a skin scan and potentially save a life".
He continued: "I was fortunate to have a skin check at work. Fortunately for me the rest is in the past and I’m moving forward. But please have a skin check. Going through that was scary at first, but then once they said, 'If we can get this skin graft done, we think you’ll be in the clear', it was more dealing with the fact I’d have fairly significant scars.
"It’s a common perception that melanoma, although can be deadly, can be removed pretty easily and there’s only a small scar."
Following his initial diagnosis in November 2018, Ryan has endured 40 biopsies of his neck and back, one of his lung. He then underwent four surgeries on the area. The most recent surgery, which occurred back in May, involved the removal of large strips of flesh from his neck and legs
In a Facebook post, Ryan's wife Fallon explained: "With any skin cancer, not only do they remove the affected area of skin, but they also take a boundary around it.
"Ryan’s boundaries kept coming back abnormal, which was then found to be a skin condition called Nevus Spilus. It’s very rare for it to transition into melanoma, but in his case it did.
"In May 2019 a large area of skin from his neck and back needed to be taken. So in his 4th surgery, Ryan had a skin graft, removing skin from both legs to cover (the) section on his neck and back."
Fallon then used to opportunity to praise her husband for his strength: "This whole experience has been hugely challenging for all of us, but if anything good is to come out of this, it is that we now want to help raise more awareness of skin cancer.
"Melanoma accounts for 10% of all skin cancers, which is why it is so important that everyone has regular skin checks. Your life is too precious to just bake yourself in the sun and not worry about your skin."