• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Woman shares important message following stage four cancer diagnosis after her symptoms dismissed as anxiety

Home> Community> Life

Published 14:50 7 Jun 2025 GMT+1

Woman shares important message following stage four cancer diagnosis after her symptoms dismissed as anxiety

Lily Murphy was diagnosed with stage four melanoma at 23 years old

Callum Jones

Callum Jones

Featured Image Credit: Collect/PA Real Life

Topics: Health, UK News, Cancer

Callum Jones
Callum Jones

Advert

Advert

Advert

A woman from the UK has shared an important message after receiving a devastating stage four skin cancer diagnosis when she was 23.

One in five Americans will develop skin cancer before the age of 70, with 9,500 people in the US receiving the diagnosis each day, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation.

30-year-old Lily Murphy, from Watford, UK, said she'd used sunbeds less than 10 times before her diagnosis, having started to use them before going on a trip to Vietnam and Bali to 'start' her tan.

Advert

But upon her return - she noticed that something quite not right. In 2018, Lily saw a mole that had darkened and began to bleed; she was initially told by doctors it was nothing to worry about.

This was before her trip to Southeast Asia, but concerns arose during the trip, so Lily decided to visit another healthcare professional for a second opinion.

Lily Murphy was first diagnosed at 23 years old (Collect/PA Real Life)
Lily Murphy was first diagnosed at 23 years old (Collect/PA Real Life)

"That's when the doctor said, 'This doesn't look right, I'm going to refer you on the two-week cancer pathway'," she said.

Advert

Lily, who works as an NHS administrative clerk, had the mole removed and was called back two weeks later, which is when she received her diagnosis.

"There were two Macmillan Cancer nurses in there too… that's when they said to me it's come back as melanoma, stage 1B," she added.

"I was shocked, I was devastated. But as there was a delay between the call and the appointment, by the time I saw the doctor, it had actually sunk in a bit."

According to Macmillan, stage 1 melanoma is the early stage of the condition, meaning it has not spread to other parts of the body and is generally treatable, which Lily was incredibly optimistic about.

Advert

After undergoing two surgeries in 2019, Lily was given the all-clear by healthcare professionals; however, in 2023, she began to feel unwell again.

After undergoing treatment, Lily began to feel unwell (Collect/PA Real Life)
After undergoing treatment, Lily began to feel unwell (Collect/PA Real Life)

"I was just constantly tired, and I couldn't understand why," Lily said. "The following weekend I worked overtime and had back pain, so I thought I'd sat uncomfortably or something.

"But then I woke up the next morning and had really bad chest pain and couldn't breathe, and said to my mum it feels like something's not right."

Advert

She said her symptoms were initially dismissed as anxiety, but she was eventually given scans and blood tests and was told she had stage 4 melanoma.

"They said we've found some masses in your lung and your neck," Lily recalled.

According to doctors, in some rare cases, melanoma can spread via blood and not turn up on the scans, which is what happened to her.

Thanks to new treatments, however, some people can live with stage four melanoma for a long time, as per Cancer Research UK, so Lily is expected to undergo lifelong treatment after the cancer spread to both her lungs and neck.

Advert

Lily was diagnosed with stage four melanoma (Collect/PA Real Life)
Lily was diagnosed with stage four melanoma (Collect/PA Real Life)

Lily is campaigning for sunbeds to be banned in the UK, with her petition, Ban Sun Beds to Protect Against Skin Cancer in the UK, garnering over 1,300 signatures so far.

"It was just a spur of the moment thing," she said. "Every day I'm getting biopsy requests where the patient has a history of using sunbeds. Sunbeds are a known cancer risk.

"Banning them would save lives – and save the NHS money."

Advert

Lily added that she's 'probably used sunbeds for less than an hour in total' and 'just going on a sunbed for six minutes can change your whole life'.

"If I could stop just one person using sunbeds to save them going through what I've been through, it will be a miracle." she said.

Choose your content:

2 days ago
4 days ago
5 days ago
  • 2 days ago

    Mom-to-be slammed for naming baby after disaster that impacted millions of people around the world

    One social media user wrote that they 'refused to believe this is real'

    Community
  • 4 days ago

    Horrifying simulation reveals what really happened when man was swallowed whole by a humpback whale

    A new terrifying fear has just been unlocked, brilliant...

    Community
  • 4 days ago

    Hidden interview question could cost you that new job even if you are perfect for the role

    Don't get caught out...

    Community
  • 5 days ago

    Shocking simulation reveals how two inmates in separate prison cells had a baby without ever meeting

    Miami inmates Daisy Link and Joan Depaz had never met

    Community
  • Woman, 47, diagnosed with stage 4 cancer issues urgent warning about subtle symptom she dismissed
  • Mother diagnosed with stage 4 cancer reveals the hidden symptoms doctors dismissed
  • Woman diagnosed with cancer aged 44 shares the four symptoms that made her realize something was wrong
  • Doctor who was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer shares two specific symptoms to look out for