Woman wants to find stranger who told her she had cancerous mole during art gallery trip
Good Samaritan approached Diana Terry, 64, with some life saving advice
A DOCTOR is hunting a stranger who saved her life by urging her to seek treatment for a cancerous mole.
Diana Terry, 64, was approached by a member of the public who spotted the 2mm wide skin defect by the corner of her left eye.
Dr Terry, of Bath, Somerset, said she was at Victoria Art Gallery in Bath on February 17 when the quick-witted stranger stepped in and urged her to get the mole checked.
The retired consultant went to her GP the next day and was immediately referred for an urgent scan.
Results revealed the mole, that she assumed was harmless was in fact cancerous.
The grandmother-of-seven was diagnosed with a stage II melanoma and had to undergo immediate surgery to remove it.
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She also needed follow-up surgery and an agonising wait to see if it had been a success.
She has now been given the all clear and wants to spread the word on how to self-diagnose.
Dr Terry said: "We were in the last room of the tour and another member of the public came up to me, looked me straight in the eye and said, 'I'm a dermatologist, you need to get that mole looked at.'
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"I'm a doctor myself and I could see she was serious."
"I think she saved my life. I am so grateful and so thankful she had the courage to come up to a complete stranger and act in such a selfless way.
“It takes balls really."
Wanting to raise awareness, Dr Terry said she advises anyone who has any concerns about a mole to go to their GP straight away.
How to check your own mole for tell-tale signs of cancer
Most moles are completely harmless
They are small coloured spots on the skin made up of cells called melanocytes, which produce the colour in your skin
The scientific name for moles is melanocytic naevi
Moles are often a brownish colour, although some may be darker or skin-coloured. They can be flat or raised, smooth or rough, and some have hair growing from them
They may get slightly darker during pregnancy and increase in number during teen years
You should check your skin every few months for any new moles that develop (particularly after your teenage years, when new moles become less common) or any changes to existing moles
The main treatment for melanoma is surgery
In rare cases they can develop into melanoma - a serious and aggressive form of skin cancer
THINGS TO LOOK FOR:
- moles with uneven colouring
- moles with an uneven or ragged edge
- bleeding, itching, red, swollen or crusty moles
- moles that get a lot bigger
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