A SUNBED victim may already be saving lives on her mission to warn young people of the perils posed by tanning booths.

Mandi Welsh produced an instant reaction yesterday when she showed students pictures of horrific scars left on her face by lifesaving surgery for skin cancer.

One teenage girl at Wolsingham School and Community College is asking her doctor to check a mole on her arm, while other students vowed to stop using sunbeds.

Mrs Welsh, 41, from Kelloe, near Durham City, is touring all the county’s 32 comprehensive schools to warn of the dangers.

She had used sunbeds for 20 years when she discovered a tiny mole on her face that turned out to be a malignant melanoma.

A subsequent operation left her with a 4in scar on her cheek, but she is grateful that it saved her life, although she will need regular checks to make sure she stays clear.

She is angry with herself for exposing her husband, Steven, and children, Scott, 20, and Lauren, 12, to months of anguish.

She said: My 12-year-old daughter asked if I was going to die.

“I felt so guilty that I put my family through this just because I wanted a suntan. It could have cost me my life.”

Pupil Amy Mulligan, 14, from Crook, is going to show her GP a mole that has spread.

She said: “I felt sorry for her. I was nearly crying. It was a good talk and it will teach us something in life.”

Megan Stephenson, 17, from Crook, said: “I will never use a sunbed again. This gave me a shock.”

■ The Northern Echo launched its Sunbed Safety campaign in 2008 when 15-year-old Darlington girl Katie Turner was hospitalised after she spent more than 20 minutes under the lamps at her local salon.