Sonia Lewis knew something wasn't right in 2014. She was 29 when she noticed that a small freckle above her right eyebrow had slightly changed shape.
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Call it a gut feeling, but her quick decision to get it checked surely saved her life.
"I wanted it removed for aesthetic reasons because I didn't like it," she said. "Doctors told me it was nothing to worry about and to leave it. But I persisted. I wanted it gone."
The mole was removed by a plastic surgeon, who phoned her a few days later with the update - it was melanoma. She returned to have a wider margin removed.
"The surgeon said something I will never forget," Mrs Lewis said. "He said 'somebody is watching over you because had you waited a few more months, you would have been in a totally different predicament.' That hit home for me."
The diagnosis was unexpected she said, as she wasn't a typical tanner. "I didn't lay and bake but I did a lot of outdoor sport. I don't remember it being enforced to re-apply sunscreen after two hours of swimming. I also get checked for ocular melanoma as I feel maybe I got the melanoma on my right side as it's my driving side."
She emphasises the importance of annual skin checks. "You know your body better than anybody. If you feel something isn't right, get it sorted. Unfortunately there are places on your body where you can't check yourself - like your back or scalp. So when you go to the hairdresser, ask them to let you know if something doesn't feel or look right.
"A lot of people said to me they were surprised I got melanoma because I have olive complexion as I'm Italian. But Bob Marley died of melanoma. It doesn't discriminate."
Australia has the highest melanoma rates in the world. It is the most common cancer affecting 20-39-year-old Australians.
This year, the Melanoma Institute's Co-Medical Directors and 2024 Australians of the Year, Professor Georgina Long and Professor Richard Scolyer, are urging Australians to join the national campaign to stop the glamorisation of tanning. The professors received their honour for revolutionising melanoma treatment and their advocacy for sun-safe behaviour.
On March 17 Mrs Lewis and her husband Luke, a Cronulla Sharks NRL legend, and their children are participating in the first Melanoma March Cronulla, a fundraising walk for the Melanoma Institute.
They will be joined by representatives and event ambassadors from Combine Air The Shire gym at Woolooware, on a five kilometre walk from Bay Central Shopping Centre to Taren Point and back, where there will be a celebratory party with face-painting, stalls and a DJ.
Melanoma March is in its 13th year but this is the first Cronulla event. It raises awareness and supports Melanoma Institute Australia's life-saving research, and also provides an opportunity for patients and families to unite to support each other and remember those lost to the disease.
"I've come to meet so many people who have been affected by it and some who sadly haven't had the luxury of early detection," Mrs Lewis said. "I sometime feel like I'm a bit of a fraud because I got it in time."
