A SUNBURNT mum claims a 34-second clip of coconut oil melting on her leg, which she shared on social media, may have saved her life.
Bre Sheffield suffered severe sunburn after falling asleep on the beach for 45 minutes last month without wearing any suncream.
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The mum-of-four shared a shocking clip showing just how burnt she was – with her thighs bright scarlet and so hot that a lump of coconut butter can be seen melting into a puddle on her skin.
The light-hearted post, captioned “when you’re so burned you can melt coconut oil on your leg” went viral, racking up a whopping 4.2million views.
The video focuses on the skincare product rapidly vanishing into the skin on the 35-year-old’s right thigh, but TikTok was quick to notice a jagged nickel-sized mole—a mark she’s had for a decade but admits has been “growing”.
Social media users flooded into the comments section of her 34-second clip suggesting she get the sinister-looking mark checked by a doctor – with many brazenly declaring that it is melanoma.
Melanoma is the most severe form of skin cancer that has a tendency to spread around the body.
I dismissed the comments at first. It [the mole] is something I’ve had all my life, so I never really paid attention to it.
Bre Sheffield
The worried X-ray technician booked a dermatologist appointment and is getting the mole removed.
TIKTOKERS SAVED MY LIFE
She admits that while doctors didn’t think it was anything to worry about, she is nervously hoping tests will prove it is non-cancerous, thanks to what TikTokers said.
Now, Bre is sharing her scary experience to urge people to use sun protection and get anything suspicious checked out by doctors.
Bre, from Coffee Springs, Alabama, US, said: “TikTok users could have potentially saved my life.
“They’ve really made a mark on how I view things and have pushed me to take things more seriously.
“I was really scared, I started to question everything.
“I’d taken my children to the beach that morning and fell asleep and didn’t apply sunscreen. I got pretty burned, which never usually happens.
“At home, I was talking to my son, and he mentioned something about the heat of my leg, and I wondered if it would melt coconut oil.
“So he said, ‘Let’s make a video’, and it turned into a joke. I was going to delete it the following day, but it turned into what it did.”
One TikTok user wrote: “Not to freak you out, but it looks like melanoma.”
Another user commented: “Call your dermatologist tomorrow and tell them it can’t wait.”
A third wrote: “As someone who just had one removed and was cancerous – go get it looked at.”
A fourth user commented: “That is melanoma.”
Bre said: “I dismissed the comments at first. It [the mole] is something I’ve had all my life, so I never really paid attention to it.
“But then, once the comments started flooding and the messages started coming, I was looking back at old pictures and noticing that it had changed, so it kind of piqued my interest.
“It’s flat, it’s not raised, but it’s darkened over time and it has grown. It’s been so normal to me over the years.”
Bre underwent annual skin health check-ups and had a biopsy done on the spot back in 2014, which didn’t reveal any cause for concern.
The importance of sun cream in your skincare routine
Dermatologist and skincare enthusiast Andrea Suarez – known as Dr Dray – revealed why you should wear suncream.
The one thing you can do that will make the biggest difference – and this matters for all ages – is protecting your skin from the sun, Andrea stressed.
“The vast majority of external aging is due to exposure to ultraviolet radiation,” she continued, not because you’re “not using some jazzy serum or layering 90 different things on your face everyday”.
“If you’re not doing in your 20s, get on that now.”
But she said the use of sun cream alone doesn’t go far enough. Andrea urged that you also wear sun-protective clothing like broad-brimmed hats and long sleeves, on top of not staying out too long in the sun.
Doing this over your lifetime – and all year, not just during the summer or on sunny days – “will reduce the visible signs of photoageing”, Andrea said.
Those are wrinkles, muddled pigmentation and sagging skin.
However, she said insistent TikTok users pushed her to go for an appointment with a dermatologist on May 14th as she admits it had been growing.
She’s now being referred to a plastic surgeon to have the mark, believed to be a benign nevus spilus, removed due to its changed appearance.
‘BIG RELIEF’
Bre said: “I felt a lot of anxiety. I started questioning things, ‘Could it be melanoma? What if it is?’
“I told my dermatologist I would like it removed and hoped she’d agree.
“There was no excision done but because of the size my dermatologist has referred me to a plastic surgeon.
“I’m kind of nervous. I just hope that it’s smoothly removed and the results come back benign.
“It will be a big relief once I get the test results back, a heavy weight off my shoulders.
“Once it’s removed I’ll feel better but I’ll feel even better once I get the results.”
Thankful Bre said the outpouring of support and concern her video prompted is comforting, and she’s now sharing her skin health journey to encourage others to get checked.
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Bre said: “It’s really strange because it’s comforting to know there are people in the world who still care for other humans and want the best for people.
“I’ve had a lot of people reach out and tell me that because of that video, they’ve made their appointments and are getting their skin checked.
“I’ve also gotten a lot of hateful comments and messages. I try to ignore those and not read them because they don’t truly know the full story or everything about me. I just ignore it and brush it off.
“Melanoma is very serious, it can affect anybody. It doesn’t have to look like the basics, it can look like anything.
Read more on the Scottish Sun
“It doesn’t hurt to get it checked, what’s the worst that can happen? It could be something not to worry about.
“I want to spread awareness of the seriousness of skin health.”
Skin cancer: What are the signs and symptoms – and what does it look like?
There are various forms of skin cancer that generally fall under non-melanoma and melanoma.
Non-melanoma skin cancers, diagnosed a combined 147,000 times a year in the UK, kill around 720 people a year in the UK.
Melanoma, meanwhile, is diagnosed 16,000 times a year, but is the most serious type that has a tendency to spread around the body.
The deadly cancer takes the lives of 2,340 people per year.
According to Cancer Research UK, since the early 1990s, melanoma skin cancer cases have more than doubled in the UK, and it’s projected to rise further.
The most common sign of melanoma is the appearance of a new mole or a change in an existing mole.
Most experts recommend using the simple “ABCDE” rule to look for symptoms of melanoma skin cancer, which can appear anywhere on the body.
- Asymmetrical – melanomas usually have two very different halves and are an irregular shape
- Border – melanomas usually have a notched or ragged border
- Colours – melanomas will usually be a mix of two or more colours
- Diameter – most melanomas are usually larger than 6mm in diameter
- Enlargement or elevation – a mole that changes size over time is more likely to be a melanoma
In women, the most common specific location for melanoma skin cancers in the UK is the legs.
Men are more likely to see melanomas in their trunk – the back or torso.