#14 - Melanoma Awareness: Understanding and Protecting Your Skin with Claudia Tolhurst

Uncover the alarming truth behind melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, in our compelling conversation with Claudia Tolhurst, Executive Officer at the Hunter Melanoma Foundation. Join us as we shine a light on why melanoma is referred to as Australia's "national cancer" and explore the foundation's dedicated mission to combat this aggressive disease. Claudia shares eye-opening statistics and invaluable insights into the importance of early detection and the role of sun-safe practices in reducing skin cancer fatalities.

Equip yourself with essential sun protection knowledge in this episode that could save lives, especially in climates as harsh as Australia’s. Claudia and I discuss practical sun safety measures, such as UPF 50+ clothing, sunscreen, and the crucial need for education, particularly for children. Learn about the impactful community initiatives from the Hunter Melanoma Foundation, including the upcoming Spot Check campaign offering free skin checks, and discover how you can contribute to the fight against melanoma.

In a world where awareness is key, discover a wealth of educational programs designed to promote skin health and melanoma awareness. We explore resources like the SWAP program for outdoor workers and the Melanoma and Skin Cancer Advocacy Network's offerings. Personal stories bring the discussion to life, underscoring the message to "check and protect your skin." Tune in for practical tips, such as using photographs to monitor suspicious skin changes, and be inspired to raise awareness in your community.

Claudia and her team are here to guide you through understanding and prioritising your skin health, ensuring that melanoma prevention is a part of everyday life.

You can get in contact with the Hunter Melanoma Foundation by phone on: 02 4985 0103  by emailing: info@hmf.org.au. Alternatively visit the website https://hmf.org.au/ for more info.

Chapters

• 0:00 Melanoma Prevention
• 14:19 Sun Safety and Melanoma Awareness
• 24:41 Skin Cancer Prevention and Awareness
• 32:25 Next Week's Special Sponsor Announcement

Transcript

Leon Goltsman: 0:00

Good morning, good afternoon or good evening, wherever you are, and welcome back to another episode of Engaging Conversations, a program where we talk to people who are out there making a real difference in their communities and beyond. I'm your host, leon Goltsman, and today's episode is proudly brought to you by Lake Mac Business Focus, shining a light on organisations that help make our world a better place. Now let me start with a sobering thought. While melanoma accounts for only 3% of all diagnosed skin cancers, it tragically causes 65% of all skin cancer deaths. Australia holds the unfortunate title of having the highest melanoma rates per capita in the world. It's a title, as today's guest will passionately remind us, that we do not want to keep.

Leon Goltsman: 0:49

Today, I am honored to introduce Claudia Tolhurst, executive Officer at the Hunter Melanoma Foundation, a leader in raising awareness, supporting families and saving lives through education and early detection. Claudia brings a crucial message, especially now, as we're in the summer months, a time when the risks are higher and awareness is more important than ever. In today's episode, we'll discuss the early warnings of melanoma, the impact of early detection and how prioritizing your health can make all the difference. It's a conversation that truly saves lives. So, without further ado, let's dive into this powerful and timely discussion with Claudia Tolhurst. Let's learn together how we can protect ourselves and our loved ones.

Claudia Tolhurst: 1:37

So my name is Claudia Tolhurst and I'm the Executive Officer of the Hunter Melanoma Foundation, and I've been in this role for just over five years, and prior to that I spent four years on the HMF committee. Our mission here at the Melanoma Foundation is to defeat melanoma. We want to reduce the incidence of death by melanoma and we do that in several ways. So there are four arms to the work that we do. We provide support to the Newcastle Melanoma Unit, which is based here at the Mater Hospital. We provide funding for local research to HMRI and University of Newcastle's Professor Nicola Bowden, who does a lot of great work in melanoma research.

Claudia Tolhurst: 2:24

We provide patient support services to melanoma patients and their families. Now, that could be practical support in the form of transport to treatment, it could be helping them with some medical costs, it could be helping them with house cleaning or lawn mowing, those sorts of things when they're undergoing treatment, and it could be emotional support. So we have connections to the Hunter Cancer Hub where we can refer people to different organisations if they need assistance them and their family members and we run a support group which also provides them with a safe space to talk with other melanoma patients and their families. And the final part of what we do and it's probably the largest part of what we do is educate the community about prevention and early detection of melanoma.

Leon Goltsman: 3:15

So, from all the great things that you do, what exactly is melanoma and why is it considered one of the most dangerous types of skin cancer?

Claudia Tolhurst: 3:22

Melanoma is a form of skin cancer. Now there are three main types of skin cancer. They're basal cell carcinomas, or BCCs, which are the most diagnosed. There are squamous cell carcinomas, which are SCCs, and they are the second most diagnosed. And then there's melanoma, and whilst melanoma is the least diagnosed, it's the most deadly. So it only represents 3% of skin cancers diagnosed, but melanoma accounts for 65% of skin cancer deaths. So it's the most dangerous because it travels very quickly and if it's left untreated it can enter the lymphatic system and it can spread to other parts of the body where it becomes very hard to treat.

Leon Goltsman: 4:10

And you've just answered one of my questions about statistics, but can you also share some stories that highlight the prevalence and impact of melanoma in Australia and globally?

Claudia Tolhurst: 4:20

Yeah, so Australia has the highest incidence per capita of melanoma in the world. We are right up there at number one. It's really good to be world champions at things like rugby union and swimming and all those sorts of things, but when it comes to melanoma, it's a title that we don't want. So per capita, we have very, very high rates of melanoma and it's actually known as our national cancer because of that. So the thing with melanoma is it's one of the most preventable cancers. So 90% of people who have a melanoma have it removed successfully really early, and they live a normal life with no further ramifications. It's the 10% of people that leave it too long before they get checked that are left fighting for their life basically. So this is where our prevention message comes in. It is totally preventable and it's just a matter of getting our sun safe message out there so that people A can prevent it, but B so that we get that early detection message out there. So people are seeing things early and having them removed before they become life-threatening.

Leon Goltsman: 5:34

It's all about priorities, and the priority that I'm hearing here is get yourself checked out.

Claudia Tolhurst: 5:40

Yeah, priorities to get yourself checked, because we live in a world where here in Newcastle, in particular in the Hunter region, we have traditionally always had high rates of melanoma and in fact in the 1980s when the Hunter Melanoma Foundation was formed, it was because we had the highest rates of melanoma in the country. Interestingly, the data that's been released on that recently shows that in New South Wales, port Stephens is sitting at number 12. We've got Lake Macquarie sitting at 15. We have Cessnock sitting around 20 and Newcastle's around 25. So we have actually dropped down the list but we're still in those top 25 LGAs in the state when it comes to melanoma diagnosis. Now, a lot of that is to do with the fact that we do live an outdoor lifestyle and we're not telling people go and hide inside. We're just saying when you do go out, you need to slip, slop, slap, seek and slide and look after your skin so that your future self isn't fighting a melanoma diagnosis.

Leon Goltsman: 6:45

So I suppose this message is really going out to everybody.

Claudia Tolhurst: 6:49

Absolutely. Queensland actually has I believe it's Townsville has the highest rates of melanoma in the country now. So we really need to get this message out Australia-wide and we need to be learning to protect our skin and having those regular skin checks.

Leon Goltsman: 7:07

And Claudia, we've heard the word melanoma get thrown around a lot and not everybody knows what it is. I mean, hopefully, by the end of this episode of this podcast, this conversation that we're having, more and more people will understand. But still, what have you found to be some of the misconceptions people have about sunscreen and how can they apply it properly to ensure maximum protection?

Claudia Tolhurst: 7:32

Yeah, there are so many misconceptions out there about sunscreen and rather than go into the misconceptions, I might just focus on the things that we should be doing. So sunscreen has an expiry date. If you're applying a sunscreen that's past its expiry date, it's doing absolutely nothing for you. In Australia, it is illegal to sell sunscreen unless it has the expiry date noted on the bottle or the tube somewhere. So always check that your sunscreen is in date. That's rule number one.

Claudia Tolhurst: 8:03

If you're using a chemical sunscreen, it needs to be applied 20 minutes before you go outside, because it takes 20 minutes for the chemicals to react and to activate so that you're covered. Now, the difference between a chemical and a mineral sunscreen is that the chemical sunscreen soaks into your skin and it absorbs UV rays so that it doesn't damage your DNA in your skin. A physical sunscreen is a sunscreen. That's. The main ingredient is zinc oxide, so it's a thicker feeling sunscreen and it actually sits on the surface of your skin and reflects UV away from your skin. Now zincs can be applied and can take effect immediately. So if it's a zinc sunscreen, you can put it on and go out. If it's a chemical sunscreen, you need to put it on and you need to wait 20 minutes before you go out so that you can ensure that it's activated before you go outside. The other big thing is whether we're applying enough sunscreen. So it actually takes 35 mils of sunscreen on a regular adult body to ensure you're covered. So that's five mils of sunscreen for each body part. So five mils for your head, neck, ears Please don't forget your ears, because we see a lot of skin cancers around the ears Five mils for each of your arms, each of your legs, the front of your torso and the back of your torso. Now, five mils is about a teaspoon, but if you actually pull out a syringe and suck five mils out of a sunscreen bottle and squeeze it into your hand, you would be alarmed at the amount of sunscreen in your hand. It is equivalent to two 50 cent pieces stacked on the palm of your hand. So it's a fair bit of sunscreen.

Claudia Tolhurst: 9:54

So a lot of people say to me oh, I put sunscreen on and I still got sunburned. And my question to them is did you check the expiry date? Did you put it on 20 minutes before you go outside and did you apply enough? Now the other rule is that we recommend everybody applies sunscreen and reapplies it every two hours, even if the bottle says four hours. Reapply it every two hours, probably more often if you're swimming, you're sweating or you're toweling and wiping it off, so reapply it. Check the expiry date, make sure you're applying enough and make sure you're putting it on 20 minutes before you go outside. The other thing is that there's a push in the beauty industry at the moment for young ladies to wear foundations, bb creams, those sorts of things that have got an SPF 50 plus in them, and whilst we think that's great, are you putting enough of that on? I can guarantee, if you're putting foundation on with an SPF 50 plus in it, you would not be using five mils of foundation on your face. So it's better to put the sunscreen on first and then apply the foundation or the BB cream on the top of that. So if you check the UV rating each day, the general rule is, if the UV is above three, you need to apply sunscreen.

Claudia Tolhurst: 11:12

There's a great app out there called SunSmart Global, which is an initiative of the Cancer Council, victoria. Now this app works all around the world and it can tell you what the UV is going to be. It will tell you what the UV is right now when you're looking at it, and it can tell you what the UV is going to be. It will tell you what the UV is right now when you're looking at it. It will tell you what the maximum UV is going to get to on any given day and it will actually tell you the time of day that you need to protect yourself. So, for example, it might say that the UV right now is two, but it's going to be three or above between, say, 10am and 3pm. From that app you know that if you're going to walk the dog, if you're going to mow the lawn, if you're going to spend some time outside, try and do it before the UV gets to three, so before 10am or after 3pm. In the fine print of that app it will tell you that if the UV maximum on any given day is going to be two, which might be in winter, then you don't need sunscreen.

Claudia Tolhurst: 12:12

The problem with that is if you're outdoors all day and you're in the sun, even if the UV is low, then you can still get sunburned, especially if you're fair skinned.

Claudia Tolhurst: 12:25

So a personal story about that is my daughter is a netball coach, she's a netball umpire, she's a netball player and she came home from netball, from being in the sun all day, and I said to her you are sunburned. And she said, yes, mum, but I checked the app and the UV was only going to be two. But because she has fair skin and because she was out in it all day, she was still affected by UV rays and sunburn. So if the UV is above three, always protect yourself. But if the UV is below two below three, sorry, and you're going to be out in it all day it's a really good idea to protect yourself as well. Another thing worth noting is that the UV generally is above three for 10 months of the year here in Australia. So if you think that this is only a summer problem, you'd be wrong. You really need to protect your skin all year round.

Leon Goltsman: 13:20

Well, it's fair to say to just get in the habit of protecting yourself irrespective. That way you can't go wrong.

Claudia Tolhurst: 13:26

Absolutely, and we say that to people as soon as you get out of the shower and you towel off and you put your moisturiser and you clean your teeth and you do all those things and you brush your hair, get into the habit of putting your first layer of sunscreen on at that point in time and then just keep reapplying it throughout the day.

Leon Goltsman: 13:49

Claudia, besides the sunscreen, what other precautions can people take to protect themselves and their families from harmful UV exposure?

Claudia Tolhurst: 13:53

Okay. Well, there's a couple of things here. We always say don't rely on sunscreen alone. You always should have a wide brimmed hat. Caps don't give you great coverage. Yes, it's better than nothing, but a wide brimmed hat is the best option, especially if it's got a seven centimetre brim on it. That will give you cover for your ears and your neck and your face. Seven centimetre brim on it that will give you cover for your ears and your neck and your face.

Claudia Tolhurst: 14:19

Wear clothing long sleeve clothing, long pants whenever you can. They can be lightweight, but just be aware that UV can pass through fabric. So there is a great range of UPF 50 plus clothing available out there these days that if you're going to be in the sun for a long time, we recommend that you use that sort of clothing. Slip, slop, slap on some sunscreen. Always use sunscreen. A lot of people don't realise that UV can break through cloud, can break through trees and shade and through clothing, but it also can be reflective. So if you're a fisherman and you've got your long sleeved shirt on and you've got your wide brimmed hat on and you've got your sunglasses on, you will still go home with a sunburnt face if you haven't applied sunscreen, because the reflection of the UV off the water, off sand, off glass, off tin, even off light concrete Anything that's a reflective surface will give you sunburn, even if you're covered up. Seek shade wherever you can, and don't forget to put sunglasses on, because your eyes need to be protected as well.

Leon Goltsman: 15:31

What advice would you give to parents about protecting their children from sun damage? Would you give to parents about protecting their children from sun damage, especially given Australia's harsh climate.

Claudia Tolhurst: 15:39

The thing with sunburn and UV damage to your skin is that most of the damage is done before you turn 15. After that, every sunburn you have just accumulates the damage until some point in time you get your first skin cancer. So it's really important for parents to pass on some knowledge and some good habits to their children early. Always have your children sun protected, make sure they've got their hat, their protective clothing, their sunglasses, that they're seeking shade wherever they can and that they are applying their sunscreen. The thing in Australia is we get into primary school and we have a no hat, no play policy. So these kids understand that they have to wear a hat when they're out in the sun. Whether they understand why is a different story, but they know that they have to do it. Unfortunately, here locally there are not a lot of schools or high schools that carry that message through. So primary schools have great no hat, no play policies. Then they get to high school and sadly it goes out the window.

Claudia Tolhurst: 16:43

If you've got a child in the playground in year seven or year eight or year nine and they're smoking a cigarette, the teacher would pounce on that and they'd be in this principal's office. Why? Because it's carcinogenic and it has the ability to kill them in the future. It's the same thing with sunscreen and with sunbaking and children running around without hats on. You know, the UV rays from the sun are carcinogenic, they can cause cancer.

Claudia Tolhurst: 17:10

But we don't tend to look at it that way. We look at the smoking or the vaping and you know we pounce on it straight away. But sun, sun tanning, you know, when I was a kid in high school, I used to sit in the shade with my legs out in the sun to try and get, you know, some sun on my legs. If I knew then what I know now, I think I would have changed it. But then again my brain as a teenager might not have been able to, you know, assess the risk or the future risk, and maybe I wouldn't have taken that on board. But if I had a teacher telling me pull those legs in, out of the sun, you're not allowed to do that it would be a different story.

Leon Goltsman: 17:50

So the real message here is educate children early.

Claudia Tolhurst: 17:52

Yeah, absolutely.

Leon Goltsman: 17:55

Look and community is a really big part, because I know especially in regional parts of New South Wales, but also in the city, people want to get involved. How can people get involved with your organisation's initiatives or support melanoma research and awareness efforts?

Claudia Tolhurst: 18:11

So many ways you can get involved with the Hunter Melanoma Foundation. Many ways you can get involved with the Hunter Melanoma Foundation. We have just myself and one staff member who works two days a week. So for the work that we're doing we rely heavily on volunteers. So one of the best ways you can help is to volunteer for the organisation. It's a very simple process. You just go to our website and sign up as a volunteer. We send an email out then and ask people are you available for this? And if you are, you sign up, and if you're not, you ignore it and wait till the next time. So the website is hmforgau. On that website you can also become a member. So if you can spare the three cents yes, that's correct, three cents per day. It costs $11 a year to be a member.

Claudia Tolhurst: 19:00

If you're a member of HMF, we'll send you a membership gift for signing up. We will give you access to our newsletter twice a year. You will be on our mailing list for our fundraising campaigns. You'll get to see what's happening in the community as far as melanoma and what the things HMF are working on. So we welcome and invite people to become a member of HMF. You can host fundraising events or you can come and attend our fundraising events. We have fundraising events all throughout the year. If you follow us on social media and share our pages and share our posts, that's a great way and a cheap way that you can help us get the message across. Yeah, so there's different ways that you can help. You know whether it's financial, whether it's, you know, donating your time, or whether it's just sharing our message and helping to share that message for us.

Leon Goltsman: 19:55

Well, I know I'll definitely be signing up.

Claudia Tolhurst: 19:57

That'd be great. We'd love to have you on board.

Leon Goltsman: 20:00

Claudia. Are there any upcoming events or campaigns our listeners should know about and how they can participate?

Claudia Tolhurst: 20:08

Yeah, there is. So we have our Spot Check campaign coming up in February. We've just come off a weekend of a Spot Check campaign, so the spot check campaign is an initiative where we provide the community with a free pop-up skin check clinic. The one that we've just completed and the one that we're doing in February is thanks to the state government through their local small commitments program. We were able to get some funding to continue with the program this year and I've just had a look at the data on that and over the last weekend we saw 145 patients. From that we found 52 suspicious lesions, including six suspected melanomas. So we're saving lives with that campaign.

Claudia Tolhurst: 20:56

If you want to get involved in that campaign and want to come along and get your skin checked, the best way to do that is to go to our website and sign up to our newsletter and you'll be the first to know when the dates are released and when the bookings are released.

Claudia Tolhurst: 21:09

We also have in March our Out of the Sun Run, so we hold that in conjunction with H events out at Lake Macquarie Spears Point Park as part of the Lake Macquarie Triathlon Festival.

Claudia Tolhurst: 21:23

We hold it on a Friday night, so that it's out of the sun and we're all being sun safe.

Claudia Tolhurst: 21:28

And this year we're doing or sorry, next year we're doing a five kilometre fun run for people who want to get involved and a 10 kilometre run for those who are a little bit more competitive and want to be challenged by doing the extra run. Aside from that, we are working on what's called a swap program, and that is a sun safe workplace awareness program so we can go out to the community and deliver to the workplace out to the community and deliver to the workplace specifically those workplaces that have outdoor workers a face-to-face training session raising awareness about the dangers of UV, how to protect yourself and how you can participate in early detection. We also are in the process of getting some funding together to take that program online so that businesses can then sign up and get their staff to actually do an online training program. It's the first of its kind in Australia, so we're hoping to introduce that in the new year as well. So there's lots of different ways and, again, if you sign up to our newsletter, you're well versed on everything that's happening at HMF.

Leon Goltsman: 22:39

Wow, so you guys are very busy.

Claudia Tolhurst: 22:41

Yeah, we're very busy. We have a huge impact with a small budget and few staff, which is why we rely so heavily on those volunteers.

Leon Goltsman: 22:52

Always helps to have the right people. What are some of the biggest challenges in raising awareness about melanoma and how are you working to overcome them?

Claudia Tolhurst: 23:01

Some of our challenges with melanoma is getting the message through to the younger audience. Now a lot of people associate melanoma as an older person's disease, but it's interesting to note that the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the 20 to 39 age group is melanoma. So if you're in that age group and you're going to be diagnosed with cancer, it is more likely to be melanoma than any other form of cancer. It's really important that we get that message across because it's something that people can avoid. It's such a preventable cancer. Unfortunately, that age group tend to think that they're invincible and it won't happen to them. But we're here to tell you it can Our spot check clinics. Two years ago we found a melanoma on the ear of a 19-year-old female. This is life-saving stuff. Now she doesn't look at the back of her ear. Nobody can see the back of their ear unless they're doing some weird things in front of a mirror. So so important for people to get their skin checked, but it's really hard to get that message across to that particular group of people. Another group of people that it's hard to get the message across is to the 50 plus male. They are less likely to go to the doctors for anything, let alone a small spot on their skin and, interestingly, 60% of melanoma deaths are males over the age of 50. So it's important for us to get that message out to them as well and make sure that they are looking after themselves and going and getting things checked that they might think is just an innocent spot. They need to get it checked.

Claudia Tolhurst: 24:41

Yeah, so we have a few different education programs. So we've got the SWAP program that I mentioned earlier, where we're doing a workplace program for specifically designed for outdoor workers. But we can also go in and do our community education program in the workplace to people that work indoors, and we can also go in and do our community education program in the workplace to people that work indoors, and we often find when we do that, people are amazed at what they learn. Everybody walks away from it and says that is awesome, thank you so much, I learned so much from that. And it can be about the sunscreen that we talked about earlier or what to look for when you're checking your skin and those sorts of things. So there's a swap program. We do a community education program where we go out and deliver a program to different community groups. It could be a school. It could be a rotary group, it could be a probus club, any of those sorts of things we can go out and deliver our program to as well and they're always well received. And we have our high schools program that we go out and deliver to the high schools when requested to as well. Anybody that wants to do any education program can just contact us via email. Info at hmforgau and those details are on our website.

Claudia Tolhurst: 25:58

If you're a melanoma patient, mscan, m-s-c-a-n, which is the Melanoma and Skin Cancer Advocacy Network, have some great podcasts out there for people to listen to, whether you've been diagnosed with the melanoma in situ and had that removed and no further ramifications, or whether you been diagnosed with the melanoma in situ and had that removed and no further ramifications, or whether you're a stage four melanoma patient. There is some really good resources on their website and some podcasts you can listen to and there are links to that on the HMF website and we also have some links on the HMF website to the Melanoma Institute Australia and they produce four really good books, depending on what stage of melanoma you've been diagnosed with. So they have your guide to melanoma in situ, your guide to early melanoma, your guide to stage three melanoma and your guide to stage four melanoma. So any diagnosis that you've had, you can go on and download those resources.

Leon Goltsman: 26:59

That's really good to know. A lot of what we talk about will be in the show notes, but it's really valuable information. Do you have a personal story or experience related to melanoma that has shaped your passion for this course?

Claudia Tolhurst: 27:14

Absolutely, and the reason I got involved in the Melanoma Foundation in the first place was my sister, probably about 40 years ago, had a melanoma in her back and it was cut out early and she survived. And as a result of that, my mother used to volunteer for the Hunter Melanoma Foundation back in the days when they were at the old Walls End Hospital site and I was working at the time when I got involved. I was working for a bank who are very community focused and they always recommended that their staff do something to give back to the community. So because of the connection that my mother had, I came on board with the Hunter Melanoma Foundation and got onto their management committee and I was there for four years before I took on the role of executive officer.

Claudia Tolhurst: 28:08

Since then I have had my own melanoma cut out of my leg, a melanoma in situ. I was very lucky to get it early and the reason I found that melanoma was because my middle sister rang me. She lives in Western Australia and she rang one day and said I've just had a melanoma cut out of my chest. Anyway, we had a discussion about it and she was very lucky. She just caught it in time before it got to the thickness where it starts to get a little bit more complex concerning. And I sat down on the lounge that night and I was starting to check my own skin which I do regularly anyway.

Claudia Tolhurst: 28:45

But I looked at the spot on my leg that I had been keeping an eye on and I noticed that evening that it had changed. I thought I need to go and get that checked. So I dug out an old photo that I took of it. And here's a really good tip when you're checking your skin, if you find something that you think is a little bit suspicious looking, take a photo of it with a tape measure next to it. So I got out my old sewing tape measure and popped it next to it and I took a photo. So then when my sister rang and I looked at it again and I noticed, oh, I think that's changing. I was able to compare the photo to the previous photo and it hadn't grown in size, but it had definitely changed in colour, luckily. I rang my doctor and said got any vacancies this week? I think this spot's changing? And he said come up straight away and I'll have a look at it, biopsied it and, yeah, got a phone call a week later to say it was a melanoma in situ.

Leon Goltsman: 29:48

Once again reconfirms that prevention is better than cure.

Claudia Tolhurst: 29:52

And really important to know your own skin. If you don't know your own skin, you don't know whether something's new or changing, and they're the things we need to look for. If you've got something new, if you've got something changing, if you've got a new spot that's been there for six weeks or more and it's not healing, you need to get those things checked.

Leon Goltsman: 30:11

Absolutely, Claudia. What is the one key message you would like to leave with our listeners about melanoma prevention and their role in making a difference?

Claudia Tolhurst: 30:20

The key message here is check and protect your skin. It's five words, but that's all you need to do Check and protect your skin and raise the alarm If you're standing in the bank and you see someone in front of you with a really sus looking spot on them. Call it out and ask them have you had that spot checked? We had a gentleman. Them call it out and ask them have you had that spot checked? We had a gentleman.

Claudia Tolhurst: 30:45

That exact thing happened to him. He was actually a melanoma patient and the gentleman in the queue behind him at the bank tapped him on the shoulder and said you've got a spot there on your arm that looks a bit suspicious. Have you had your skin checked? Lately Now he went and got that biopsied and it was an aggressive melanoma. Sadly, he has now passed from melanoma. But you have the potential to save somebody's life. If you see somebody that's getting sunburned, tell them to get out of the sun, ask them to put some sunscreen on, spread the message about prevention and call them out. You know you could be saving somebody's life.

Leon Goltsman: 31:19

Absolutely. It's been a fantastic conversation. I really, every time I talk to you, I learn something new, and I think that our audience are going to really enjoy listening to this as well. Thank you very much for joining us.

Claudia Tolhurst: 31:31

It's my absolute pleasure.

Leon Goltsman: 31:34

Well, that's a wrap. What a truly powerful conversation we've just had with Claudia Tolhurst from the Hunter Melanoma Foundation. Claudia's insights were a much needed reminder that life is precious and melanoma is one of the most preventable cancers out there. Early detection saves lives, with 90% of cases caught early leading to full recoveries. It's those moments of delay, those ignored warning signs, that make all the difference, and that is why conversations like today are so important. We've all grown up hearing slip, slop, slap, but, as Claudia shared, it's about taking it further, applying sunscreen earlier, using the right amount and reapplying often. It's also about looking out for each other, reminding our loved ones to get regular skin checks and spreading the message of sun safety far and wide. If you'd like more information, support or resources, make sure you check out the show notes.

Leon Goltsman: 32:31

Now I've got something exciting to share with you about next week's episode. It's a special one and I can't wait to let you in on it. The cat's out of the bag and I'm looking forward to introducing you to our new sponsor. As always, if today's episode struck a chord with you, let us know your thoughts and share it with the people who matter most. I'm Leon Goltsman and I'll see you next time. Until then, stay safe, stay connected and let's keep looking out for each other.