SUNBED victim Mandi Welsh – who was left with horrific facial scars after life-saving skin cancer surgery – has begun a tour of schools to warn young people of the perils of using tanning booths.

Mrs Welsh, 41, from Kelloe, near Durham City, plans to give talks to students at all 32 comprehensive schools in County Durham.

Her story has already had an extraordinary effect on pupils at Gilesgate Comprehensive School, in Durham City, where some girls were reduced to tears or were physically sick.

“If I can just stop one person making the same mistake and going through what I went through, then it will be worth it,” said Mrs Welsh, who is married to Steven and has two children, Scott, 20 and Lauren, 12.

Mrs Welsh had been a regular user of sunbeds since she was in her 20s.

“I used to use them two or three times a week for a fortnight before a holiday or a special occasion,” said Mrs Welsh.

But on her honeymoon in Bali last September, she noticed a mole on her face had begun to grow, itch and bleed.

Her GP thought it was a wart and sent her to a clinic for it to be removed. But because Mrs Welsh wanted a second opinion, she was sent to see a hospital skin specialist.

“That probably saved my life because they quickly diagnosed malignant melanoma and called me in for surgery,” she said.

The diagnosis had a devastating effect on her and her family. “My little girl kept asking me if I was going to die. We all cried our eyes out,” she said.

Mrs Welsh said she felt really guilty that wanting to be brown had caused so much grief for her family – and put her life at risk.

Just before Christmas, surgeons removed a piece of skin 4cm across which surrounded the tumour.

The surgeons filled the gap left behind with a flap of skin taken from her jawline.

Mrs Welsh said the scars had changed her outlook on life and she no longer enjoyed going out.

But she is determined to try to spread her message that excessive sunbed use is potentially lethal.

She welcomed the ban on under-18s using sunbeds, which went through Parliament before the election, following a two-year campaign by The Northern Echo.

“Going into schools helps me feel that something positive can come out of all of this,” she added.