Skin Cancer Sufferer Posts Graphic Photo To Warn Women

The picture has since been shared by nearly 50,000 people. 

Willoughby says that she used to do indoor tanning a lot in high school: “I probably laid an average of 4-5 times a week,” she says. As the mother of a 2-year-old, she writes that the issue of tanning is even more serious to her now: “Don’t let tanning prevent you from seeing your children grow up. That’s my biggest fear now that I have a two year old little boy of my own.”

The World Health Organization recently added ultraviolet (UV) radiation-emitting tanning devices, like tanning beds and lamps, to the list of the most dangerous forms of cancer-causing radiation. People who use tanning beds under the age of 30 increase their risk of melanoma by 75%. They’re also 2.5 times more likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma and 1.5 times more likely to develop basal cell carcinoma (other forms of skin cancer). Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, but the other cancers can kill also.