KEY POINTS:
To look at Heather Jones you wouldn't think anything is wrong.
The 52-year-old mother of three looks a picture of health, with a warm smile and lively eyes.
It's not until she begins to tell her story and the tears roll down her cheeks that you realise she is going through hell.
Ms Jones has skin cancer, which she believes she got from spending too much time in the sun without wearing any protection - all in a quest to get a perfect tan.
"I never wore sunscreen. Never wore a hat or covered up," she says.
"In high school, we used to rub baby oil into our legs. We may as well have jumped into a frying pan."
Ms Jones decided to speak out after reading that 40 per cent of respondents to an informal poll for the Bay of Plenty Times weren't bothering to wear sunscreen.
She was so angered by the report she had to act - she wanted to tell her story as a warning about the consequences of not wearing sunscreen.
"People have to change their attitude," Ms Jones said. "If I could change things now I would never go out in the sun again. Believe me, the whole thing is a horrendous experience, I wouldn't wish it on anyone."
Ms Jones was first diagnosed with melanoma in June 2004 on a routine trip to her doctor.
She had noticed what she described as a small clear blister-type spot on the inside of her lower left leg.
She thought it was nothing but decided to show it to her doctor anyway.
Although her doctor said it was probably nothing to worry about, he was taking no chances.
He removed the spot, leaving her with three stitches.
"It was no bigger than the nail on your baby finger," she said.
"Three days later, he called me up and said, 'You'd better come in and see me'.
"It turned out to be a grade-three malignant melanoma."
Ms Jones immediately had surgery to remove the rest of the cancer. Everything went well and, after a short recovery, she was back working at the private security company she owns and operates.
But, last September on a trip to England, she found a small lump directly under the scar left by the first operation.
She had a biopsy on her return to New Zealand and the news wasn't good - the cancer had returned.
"That's when my world fell apart," Ms Jones said, wiping a tear from her cheek.
"The reality is that your chances go way down when you get the second one."
In October, she had a tennis ball-sized lump of flesh removed from her leg and the lymph nodes removed from her left groin. Two perfectly rectangular patches were also removed from her thighs so skin grafts could be made to repair her leg.
This week, she has been in Hamilton for further tests that will give her and doctors a more definitive idea of what her situation is and whether the cancer has spread to other organs in her body.
The tests will determine further treatment and could mean more operations, including a high-risk procedure in which her leg is sealed off at the groin and pumped full of radiation.
Ms Jones said she was positive about her situation and physically felt fine - no different than normal. She said everyone, including the staff at her work, had been amazingly supportive.
Mentally, things had taken a toll and news the cancer had come back hit not only her but everyone close to her hard.
"The grief it causes to your family, my mum, everyone, it's terrible," she said.
Now Ms Jones just wants to let people, especially young people, know that risking a day in the sun without wearing any protection - all for the sake of a sun tan - is simply not worth it.
"I used to think the same way as everyone else but people have to realise it can destroy you."
- BAY OF PLENTY TIMES
