Mom, 42, reveals how years of 'worshipping sun' on girls trips caused stage 3 cancer
A mum has opened up about the holidays she used to take in her teens and twenties, admitting she now believes those trips are directly responsible for a health battle that's changed her life.
Sarah Goldup, from the UK, started jetting off with her friends 20 years ago, back when 'girls' holidays' meant one thing above all else: coming home with a tan.
The now 42-year-old, a freelance copywriter, said she never used a sunbed, but that didn't stop her skin from taking a battering on those trips abroad.
"I was never a sunbed user but that was the era of girls' holidays when it was all about flying off to the sun and getting a tan," she said.
What are the early signs of melanoma skin cancer?
One trip to Tenerife when she was just 19 stands out. While some of her friends had darker skin and tanned easily, Sarah's Irish heritage meant she was far more susceptible to burning, especially since she skipped sunscreen altogether.
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"Some of my friends had darker skin but I'm from an Irish background and I used oil instead of sunscreen, so I got really burnt," she explained.
It's a decision Sarah now believes came back to haunt her. At 38, she was diagnosed with stage three melanoma, a form of skin cancer, and she's convinced the damage was done on those long-ago trips.
"I was diagnosed with melanoma when I was 38, so I'm pretty sure the damage happened then but only started to emerge years later," she said.
Sarah had noticed a mark on her neck since her teens, but had brushed it off as nothing more than a birthmark. It was only when the mark began changing shape and colour that she got it checked out.
"During that time, I told myself it was nothing to worry about. But then I got a call asking me to go into the surgery and was told it was malignant melanoma," she said. "It was both shocking and upsetting."
Sarah underwent two surgeries to remove the cancer, one on her neck and another on her chest after a second melanoma was discovered, and was initially given the all clear. In August, she began a year of immunotherapy as a precaution against the disease returning.
But in November 2024, she found a raised lymph node on her neck, on the same side the melanoma had originally appeared. A biopsy confirmed the cancer had come back, and she required further surgery to remove 35 lymph nodes, 25 of which turned out to be cancerous.
In April 2025, Sarah started a three-month course of combination immunotherapy drugs, and she remains on four-weekly maintenance treatment until April 2027. Her scans have all come back clear since.
"I'm doing everything I can, I eat well, I exercise every day, I cover up in the sun and I use factor 50 sunscreen every day, even in the winter," she said.
Sarah is married to Lee Goldup, and the pair have two sons, Lucien, ten, and Rafferty, seven. She said she's now fiercely protective over her boys' skin, even when they don't love it.
"I make them wear sunscreen and hats, they don't particularly like it, but it's so important," she said. "It's not just lighter-skinned people who get skin cancer, darker skins can get it too. And you don't have to go on a plane to get it, the sun here can also damage your skin."
How can I protect my skin from sun damage?
Sarah's story echoes warnings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which advises Americans to seek shade whenever possible, cover up with clothing, and use a broad spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher, reapplying every two hours. The CDC also warns against indoor tanning, saying UV exposure from tanning beds significantly raises the risk of melanoma.
"It could have been a different story for me, but thanks to advances in research and treatment, I'm still here and looking forward to enjoying more summers with my family and friends," Sarah added.
Topics: Health
Thomas Bamford