A tanning addict who used the sunbed almost every day for 15 years says she is ‘lucky to be alive’ after things took a turn for the worse.
Fionnghuala Maguire, 35, from Belfast, started using sunbeds at the age of 14 and never applied SPF during her years of tanning – now she is warning others not to make the same mistake.
She admits she has been using the machines routinely for more than 15 years, visiting salons as many as seven days a week at the height of her addiction.
Adding that decades of tanning bed use have left her on her ‘deathbed’ twice and she now lives in constant ‘fear’ that it will eventually kill her.
The 35-year-old receptionist revealed her life was turned upside down after a suspicious birthmark turned out to be cancerous in 2020, leading to a skin cancer diagnosis and immunotherapy treatment.
A tanning addict who used the sunbed almost every day for 15 years says she feels ‘lucky to be alive’ after things took a major turn
Shocking photos show Fionnghuala’s face covered in red marks as a result of laser therapy she undergoes every six to eight weeks to help heal broken capillaries on her skin – a side effect of immunotherapy.
Broken capillaries are dilated or enlarged blood vessels just beneath the skin’s surface.
After the last laser treatment, dozens of red, painful spots broke out on Fionnghuala’s face, causing severe swelling and bruising on her cheeks.
The mother says she always gets “severe swelling” after each round of laser therapy, but hopes the treatment will help heal her skin scars caused by the aggressive immunotherapy treatment.
Despite her successful treatment for skin cancer, Fionnghuala was treated for cancer again in late 2021 and almost died for a second time.
Fortunately, her treatments have been successful and all is clear now, but she admits she lives in fear of another cancerous mole appearing and still worries that her tanning addiction will eventually kill her.
During her time in the sun, even Fionnghuala’s own mother begged her to quit, following her own cancer diagnosis – but it was to no avail as the receptionist was determined to keep her glow.
Now she’s urging other brown fans to move off the sunbeds – as she says she almost left her son without a mother because of her obsession.
Shocking photos show Fionnghuala’s face covered in red spots as a result of laser therapy she undergoes every six to eight weeks to help heal broken capillaries on her skin – a side effect of immunotherapy
Fionnghuala Maguire, 35, from Belfast, started using sunbeds at the age of 14 and never applied SPF during her years of tanning – now she is warning others not to make the same mistake
Fionnghuala, mother of ten-year-old Fionn, said: ‘I’ve been using sunbeds since I was 14.
‘There was no such age limit then. I went dark very naturally and a tan gave me a lot of self-confidence.
‘If I was going out on Saturday night or on holiday, I would use it every day to get the best tan.
‘During the winter months it was about two to three times a week, then I did it in the summer.
‘I’ve probably used a tanning bed thousands of times in my life. It was an addiction, there’s no doubt about that.’
She continued, “My mother was diagnosed with skin cancer and had to have a few tumors removed. She always told me to stop using the tanning bed, but you don’t listen, you think you’re invincible.’
During the Covid pandemic, Fionnghuala discovered a birthmark on her right leg which doctors decided to quickly remove due to her family history.
Fionnghuala was asked to return to hospital and told she had stage one melanoma and they had to cut out more of her skin.
Now she’s urging other brown fans to move off the sunbeds – as she says she almost left her ten-year-old son Fionn (RIGHT) without a mother because of her obsession
Reflecting on her health struggles, Fionnghuala said a tan ‘isn’t worth what she’s been through and she could ‘kick herself’ for using the tanning bed
The mother says she always gets ‘severe swelling’ after each round of laser therapy – but hopes the treatment will help heal her skin scars caused by the aggressive immunotherapy treatment
This was followed by the discovery of another growth on her leg three months later, which was also confirmed to be cancerous.
She subsequently underwent immunotherapy to prevent her cancer from returning, but had an adverse response to her treatment when her adrenal glands stopped functioning and she developed Addison’s disease.
It led to an emergency hospital stay in December 2021, when the mother said she was “a day or two away from death.”
Fionnghuala said: “Christmas 2021 I felt like I was going to die. My sister took me to the hospital and just had to drop me off because it was Covid. I didn’t know if I would see her again.
‘They checked my adrenal glands and they stopped working. I was immediately pumped with a hydrocortisone steroid and within that night I felt like a completely different person. I felt normal again.
“A doctor told me that if my cortisone levels had been that low for another day or two, I would have gone into a coma and died.”
Fionnghuala underwent two further sessions of immunotherapy in May 2022 before developing capillary leak syndrome – a rare condition that causes a dramatic drop in blood pressure.
In the past two years, the mother of one has had a further five suspicious moles removed from her chest, arm, leg and back. She visits her dermatologist every three months for full-body checkups.
In the past two years, the mother of one has had a further five suspicious moles removed from her chest, arm, leg and back. She visits her dermatologist every three months for full-body checkups.
Fionnghuala said: ‘I now just live in fear of the next mole. There is a high chance that the skin cancer will come back at any time’
The mother explains: ‘There was no such age limit then. I became dark very naturally and getting a tan gave me a lot of self-confidence’
Reflecting on her health struggles, Fionnghuala said a tan isn’t worth what she’s been through and she could kick herself for using a tanning bed.
Fionnghuala said: ‘I now just live in fear of the next mole. There is a high chance that the skin cancer will come back at any time.
‘I’m pale white now. I don’t look like myself, it all came down to wanting tanned skin that you can literally buy out of a bottle.
‘I’m so angry with myself. I have been on my deathbed twice and my son could have stayed without a mummy. It’s not just my life that this has affected, it’s the lives of my entire family.
“Having a tan isn’t worth what could happen. You take your life into your own hands. I’m still afraid that the desire for a tan will ultimately kill me.’