• e-mail

A mother who used sunbeds twice a week has warned she will never use them again after being diagnosed with skin cancer.    

Paris Tippett, 25, from Crowthorne, Berkshire, went on sunbeds on and off from the age of 18, but started going twice-weekly for up to 14 minutes a session last year.

Not only did Paris find the tanning sessions gave her a desired golden glow, she claims they also helped her through 'down patches' - including when she experienced seasonal affective disorder [SAD].

After four months of regular tanning sessions the masseuse business owner, who is mother to three-year-old Saskia Brown, spotted a tiny freckle on her right shin while moisturising her legs.

Paris went to her GP and was referred to skin specialists who whipped off the freckle for a biopsy - and two weeks later she was given the devastating news that it was cancerous and she had stage-two melanoma.

Paris Tippett (pictured), 25, from Crowthorne, Berkshire, went on sunbeds on and off from the age of 18, but started going twice-weekly for up to 14 minutes a session last year

Not only did Paris find the tanning sessions gave her a desired golden glow, she claims they also helped her through 'down patches' - including when she experienced seasonal affective disorder [SAD]. Pictured, the freckle Paris discovered on her right shin

After four months of regular tanning sessions the masseuse business owner, who is mother to three-year-old Saskia Brown, spotted a tiny freckle on her right shin while moisturising her legs. Pictured, Pairs in hospital after surgery

Terrified at the 'silent killer' diagnosis, Paris quit using sunbeds and, now that she is relieved to have had the all-clear, is sharing her ordeal to demonstrate that using them 'isn't worth it'.

Paris said: 'I first started using sunbeds when I was 18 as I wanted to try them. From then I've just gone in and out of using them in my life.

'I haven't used them solidly every week of my life, I tend to use them just before I go on holiday or for summer.

'They also make me feel a bit better. Sometimes when I've been feeling a bit down in the past, I get SAD [seasonal affective disorder] and it has made me feel like it's helping me.

'When the doctor told me it was melanoma, a vicious one, I just sat there and was beside myself. I just cried and said "is this terminal?"'

Paris (pictured with her daughter) went to her GP and was referred to skin specialists who whipped off the freckle for a biopsy - and two weeks later she was given the devastating news that it was cancerous and she had stage-two melanoma

It was only after lockdown was lifted last year and beauty and tanning salons opened back up that Paris had decided to take advantage of sunbeds again, unsure when they might be shut again.

Paris said: 'I was using sunbeds more so in between lockdowns because I didn't know when I was going to be able to get a sunbed again.

'From last summer I upped it to two [sessions] a week, sometimes three for 12-14 minutes a time over the course of four months, and that's when a little freckle on my shin came up that winter.'

Paris visited her GP in June who referred her to Frimley Park Hospital in Frimley, Surrey. There, Paris underwent a biopsy and was devastated to learn she had melanoma.

Paris said: 'I don't have loads of freckles on my legs. I have a few moles on my thigh but nothing on my shin.

Terrified at the 'silent killer' diagnosis, Paris quit using sunbeds and, now that she is relieved to have had the all-clear, is sharing her ordeal to demonstrate that using them 'isn't worth it'. Pictured left to right, Pairs' leg before and after surgery

Paris (pictured) visited her GP in June who referred her to Frimley Park Hospital in Frimley, Surrey. There, Paris underwent a biopsy and was devastated to learn she had melanoma

After undergoing surgery to remove the freckle on July 20, Paris (pictured)  faced an agonising two-week wait until she got her results back on August 3

'I was moisturising my leg and I thought "oh that looks different, that's a new one", it was on its own at the front.

'I kept an eye on it, still carried on using the sunbed for a few weeks with a plaster over it, but then decided I needed to get it looked at.

'I went to the doctors and they weren't really concerned at all as it was a perfect circle and not really dark.

'The skin specialist at the hospital checked me from head to toe and said it was the only one that looked a little bit different but she wasn't really concerned.

'But she said that because it was new and I didn't feel comfortable with it, it could be removed if I wanted. I know my body and I just got that feeling and I knew something just wasn't right.'

After undergoing surgery to remove the freckle on July 20, Paris faced an agonising two-week wait until she got her results back on August 3.

Paris said: 'I had it removed in July and then I got my results back two weeks after that. I was a little bit apprehensive about getting it removed, but it was better than leaving it.

'Waiting a couple of weeks for the results to come back was just hell. I wasn't myself, I was all over the place. I couldn't focus on work, I couldn't concentrate at the gym - I would just go and sit there, I couldn't focus.

'I was just so worried. I was so petrified when I got the results, it was like I'd been put in someone else's life. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.'

After the shock diagnosis, Paris underwent a second surgery three weeks later on August 24.

During the procedure lymph nodes were removed and a wider section of tissue was taken to ensure it hadn't spread any further - even going down to the bone on her shin.

Paris, who runs massage therapy business P.Y.T Treatments, said: 'Stage two melanoma is a fast-spreading cancer. It's all about time with melanoma, if you catch it fast you're lucky.

'This mole was probably only on my body for six months and I had to go through what I had to go through and that was really lucky.

'Whereas if it had been there for years it could have spread to my lungs, it might have got in my blood, you just don't know.

'I'm so thankful I did listen to my body and got it removed. Three weeks later [after the diagnosis] I had surgery, it was a really difficult time. 

'They removed lymph nodes from my right groin and removed quite a wide area, going down to the bone in my shin, to make sure it hadn't spread.'

After hearing her results were all clear four weeks later on September 23, Paris described it as being like 'winning the lottery'.

Paris said: 'When they said I was all clear it was priceless, it felt like I'd won the lottery, you can't put a price on it.'

Now, Paris will have regular check-ups with her dermatologist and surgeon and has vowed to never go on sunbeds again - and is urging others to do the same.

Paris said: 'I couldn't believe that sunbeds could do this. I'll never get on one ever again, it's not worth it.

'The thing with melanoma is you don't know you've got it, it's a silent killer. It doesn't show necessarily in a mole - it can be a patch of skin, uneven patch of skin.

'I would say to anyone who is thinking of using sunbeds to invest in an amazing tan - there are some amazing tans out there. It'll be fake tan only from now on.'