Melanie Williams is a 26-year-old single mother from the UK. She was busy figuring out how to juggle family life as a solo parent when she received a pretty massive shock.
She’d noticed a small black spot on her thumb. At first, she didn’t think anything of it; probably just nail fungus or a strange bruise, right? However, a close friend didn’t agree with her and begged her to visit her doctor. Melanie made an appointment and came back with a terrifying diagnosis: skin cancer.
Thankfully, her doctors determined that the melanoma hadn’t yet spread, but they said they would have to remove half of her thumb to fully tackle cancer. The surgery was successful and Melanie returned home cancer-free — what a miracle. After her medical scare, Melanie posted the following on Facebook:
“See that on my thumb? Do you know what it is? It’s skin cancer. This grew from nothing in a matter of weeks. I thought it was just a fungal infection or a wart. Sadly not. I’ve been lucky, cancer hasn’t spread and it’s being removed next week along with half of my thumb. This may not have been the case if I’d left it and not got it checked out.
I don’t want your sympathy, I want more awareness. Therefore, please go and get any changes or growths on your skin checked out, and please tell people around you to get checked as well… p.s. If anyone knows where I can get a mini hook attachment for my stubby thumb, give me a shout!”
Her picture and words were shared over 100,000 times. She never expected to get such a huge reaction. Despite all she’d been through, she never lost her sense of humor. The post that followed illustrates this perfectly, “If I had known that photo would go viral, I would have at least put some makeup on beforehand!”
There are few things that are as scary as a cancer diagnosis. It’s important to recognize symptoms early. Sharing this helpful reminder could help save lives!