Partnership puts focus on rural melanoma risk
Farmers, growers and rural workers are being urged to sign up for a melanoma spot check. Jack Keeys was shocked when he found out in 2019 that the mole on his upper back was a melanoma. He was just 24 years old. “The scary thing is I nearly skipped my annual skin check because of my age. I was thinking about going the following year instead,” he says. Melanoma New Zealand CEO Andrea Newland says that while melanoma can be perceived as a concern only for older people, that’s not the case. “Melanoma can be found in younger age groups too, especially people aged 25-39,” she says.
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For Jack, his skin check caught the melanoma early and after two surgeries he was given the all-clear by his specialist. “I am really relieved that I didn’t wait; my skin check has probably saved my life,” Jack says. Jack’s mum lives on a dairy farm near his home town of Paeroa, and he’s moved back home to help out. He juggles this with his role as an agri-food research and insights analyst at KPMG in Auckland. Melanoma NZ’s Andrea says we have the highest incidence of the cancer in the world. More than 4,000 people are diagnosed with melanoma each year and about 300 people die from it. More people die from skin cancer than die on our roads.
| With an all-clear from his specialist, Jack Keeys relaxes on the family farm near Paeroa.
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