Depending on who you ask, bikini selfies are either the best or worst part of social media. To some, they’re exactly what’s wrong with the “Look at me” digital generation. To others, they’re an emblem of body confidence, a way of announcing to the world “This is who I am and I’m okay with that.” But to one UK woman, they’re even more significant—they were what saved her life.
21-year-old Cloe Jordan from Wolverhampton was a big fan of posting bikini mirror selfies to her Instagram. And with a smokin’ figure like that, why wouldn’t she be? But one little thing kept getting in the way of her snaps—a mole on her stomach. Sick of it ruining her selfies, she headed to her GP to talk about options for getting it removed.
Bikini selfie fan got mole removed because it was ruining her pictures – and it ended up saving her life https://t.co/VlMzS3vR8q
— Irish Daily Mirror (@IrishMirror) April 3, 2017
She admitted to the doctor that although she’d had the mole since birth, it had grown slightly larger and darker over the summer. She was sent for testing and a biopsy revealed the unthinkable—she had melanoma (the most serious type of skin cancer) and it had spread.
Cloe has since had the mole removed, leaving her with a large scar across her stomach. She is now waiting for further tests to work out where the cancer has spread, so she can receive the treatment that will hopefully leave her cancer free. If she hadn’t of had her mole checked when she did, she probably wouldn’t have been so lucky.
Recently, Cloe shared a different kind of selfie—one of her scar. While she was initially reluctant to tell anyone but her close family about her cancer diagnosis, she decided to share her experience online.
I decided to post a photo of my scar because it wasn’t until after my surgery that it really hit home what I’d been through. I knew that if by sharing my experiences and it stopped one person going on sunbeds it would be worthwhile.
-Cloe Jordan via Caters News
While Cloe says she doesn’t spend much time in the sun, she has used sun beds a handful of times in the past. Since posting the snap, Cloe says she has received a number of messages from young girls asking about suspicious moles on their own bodies. Her advice to them is simple: “I would tell anyone who has any worries over skin changes to get themselves checked by a doctor, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Here in Australia, we have one of the highest skin cancer rates in the world. It’s estimated that two in three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the time they are 70. It’s crucial to not only wear a high SPF sunscreen every day but also to keep an eye on the ‘ABCDE’ of your moles and freckles. That is, the Asymmetry Border Colour Diameter and Evolution. And if bikini selfies are the best way for you to do that, then by all means, snap away!
