Sunbed addict shares shocking pictures of hole in her face as a warning to others

Warning: Graphic images below

An ex sunbed addict who used to deliberately get sunburn has released shocking pictures showing how her battle with cancer left her with a giant hole in her face.

Elaine Sheaf has undergone 15 gruelling procedures since her facial tumours were diagnosed in 2013, which she believes may have been caused by her sunbed use four decades ago.

The 62-year-old, from Rochester, Kent, has had skin grafts from behind her ears, thighs, shoulders and eyelids to reconstruct her face after the tumours were removed.


 This horrific image shows the effects of the multiple operations on Elaine's face (Mercury Press and Media)

Doctors had to repeatedly cut away bigger and bigger chunks of Elaine’s face as the malignant melanoma spread – even shaving away large portions of her cheek bone as the tumour went deeper.

The ex-bank cashier was left was a gaping hole in her face following her treatment and claims it has left her scared to leave the house.

She was given special make-up from a department in the hospital, but Elaine feels that her scarring is too extreme for it to work and due to the loss of cheek bone her face is indented.

Despite the extreme operations, Elaine and her husband, Jeff, 64, have been told that the stage four cancer had spread to her lungs after two nodules were found by a PET scan.

The couple are hoping the images of her treatment and the impact the disease had upon her face will shock people into avoiding sunbeds, which they believe were one of the main factors behind her cancer.

Elaine said: “I’ve always been quite fair-skinned but getting a bit burned was the aim back then. We used to laugh and say we looked like strawberries – it was so stupid.

“Yet you can go anywhere and put on a cream and get the same result.

“I beg people to take the proper precautions when on holiday and don’t go on sunbeds.”

In 1995, Elaine developed a small pea-sized mole on her cheek but says doctors claimed it was nothing to worry about.

After bumping into an old friend she hadn’t seen for years in 2013, she pointed out the mole to Elaine claiming it had grown since they’d last seen each other.


 Elaine wants others to be aware of the dangers of sunbed use (Mercury Press and Media)

Elaine visited her doctor and was then referred to a dermatologist who soon confirmed it was skin cancer.

Her husband Jeff said: “I honestly think the sunbed kickstarted it but I can’t be 100 per cent certain because it’s hard for the consultants to categorically say one thing was the cause. She hadn’t used the sunbeds since she was in her 20s.

“People don’t realise the dangers of overexposure to sun – they can be so stupid. Skin cancer is actually on the increase.”