Tanning Addiction Kills 39-Year-Old Woman: Still Want to Hit the Tanning Bed?

by SodaHead Living Posted 2011/06/23 19:12:11

Related Topics: Tanning, Donna Ballantyne, Tanning Beds, Uv, Cancer, Tumors, Melanoma, Health, Death, Died, Skin Cancer, Friendship, Spread, SodaHead, Snooki

Read More

377 votes
Read all 271 opinions
Lightning Report View Results and Demographics + View Demographics

Loading Demographics... Click an icon to see demographic results Display unknown and private
	Yes	63 votes	17%
	No, I only natural tan	161 votes	43%
	No sun for me, thanks!	153 votes	41%

Donna Ballantyne, a 39-year-old Scottish mother of three, passed away this week from skin cancer caused by tanning beds, The Daily Mail reports.

She was diagnosed with melanoma nine years ago, and had been fighting the disease ever since.

Speaking two years ago, she said: 'If I could turn back time, I wouldn't have spent even one second of my life on a sunbed.

'I am convinced that if I had never been near a sunbed I would not have been left fighting for my life after skin cancer spread around my body.'

Ballantyne had been using UV tanning beds twice a week since she was 16.

At the time of her death, she had 19 tumors.

+25

Add a comment above

Lollipop 2011/06/23 19:16:22

No sun for me, thanks!

+5
Don't do tanning even in the sun, I like my skin as it is :)
>> See Replies

More polls by SodaHead Living

John H 2012/06/16 14:34:06

Yes

yes, I've been tanning indoors for 34 years. I avoid burning. It helps to give a base tan before a sunny vacation. Most importantly, sunbeds mimick outdoor sun. You get 10,000 IUs of vitamin D per session. Whenever you read about the benefits of vitamin D remember that indoor sunbeds give you this much needed vitamin.
If you are black you are significantly more likely to get many diseases linked to low vitamin D. It's sad that Donna passed but it's outrageous that her doctors did not catch this earlier. Skin cancer is the most preventable cancer b/c you can usually see it and treat it. I would rather get skin cancer than an internal cancer.

reply
Dragon 2011/07/02 17:28:52

No, I only natural tan

I dont need a tanning bed. Im mexican bitches!

reply
moorrbrt1 "In God we Trust" 2011/06/29 19:41:53

No sun for me, thanks!

I work out in the sun, so, "no thanks." I have one of those farmers tans. Face, neck and arms are dark, and the rest of me is white as snow. lol

reply
Live Free Or Die 2011/06/29 15:59:35

No sun for me, thanks!

No tanning booths or lying out for me.

reply
rightside 2011/06/27 19:28:42

No sun for me, thanks!

+1
I'm not afraid of the sun, but I do use sun screen most of the time.
Sun worshippers need to see what they'll look like in 40 years. Bridget Bardot stayed too long in the sun.

reply
kitkatgoesRAWR 2011/06/26 20:24:01

No, I only natural tan

Tanning beds make you an off color, and give you cancer must I say more ew, a reasonable amount of real sun is good enough for me.

reply
ELLIE 2011/06/25 12:56:36

No, I only natural tan

Never been on a sun bed and will only tan naturally.

reply
Xerxes,Phantom of PHAET 2011/06/24 22:08:37

No, I only natural tan

+1
don't like the fake bake look,

reply
Tab Bear[: 2011/06/24 21:41:45

Yes

I don't do it very often, but I did go yesterday.

reply
Luna Wren 2011/06/24 20:54:15

No, I only natural tan

+1
I'm naturally tan.

reply
♥Rawr♥ 2011/06/24 19:47:10

No, I only natural tan

i dont like spending my money on tan since it doesnt last that long

reply
nobody 2011/06/24 18:59:59

No sun for me, thanks!

+1
i get headaches with the sun i dont do sunbathing

reply
Devin Pederson 2011/06/24 18:00:15

No, I only natural tan

Sunlight tans me. If I wanted to be tan, I could go out in the sun and get my tan for free.

reply
Half-Ginger 2011/06/24 16:30:36

No sun for me, thanks!

I never wanted to in the first place. Tans are overrated.

reply
FluffyCupcakespanker~PWCM~JLA 2011/06/24 15:25:54

No sun for me, thanks!

+1
I like to glow in the dark

reply
LittleMistersMom 2011/06/24 14:39:25

Yes

I've only started tanning since we started planning our wedding, and I'll quit after the big day. But honestly, it's just as dangerous as being out in the sun. My grandpa had melanoma and never spent a second in a tanning bed. I come from a long line of farmers....trying to cover those tan lines for my dress!

reply
Alicia 2011/06/24 14:22:22

No sun for me, thanks!

I think tanning is weird... ugly, actually!

reply
ebfloyd06 2011/06/24 14:14:42

No sun for me, thanks!

I do not tan, just burn on top of burn. I avoid the sun, if I don't I end up with second degree burns

reply
Feisty 2011/06/24 14:03:30

No sun for me, thanks!

My body doesn't tan so it would be an exercise in futility anyway.

reply
synful90 2011/06/24 13:42:35

No sun for me, thanks!

+1
there is no such thing as a healthy tan. if you're that desperate they do have spray on tans now that look pretty good lol. melanoma is always a hard cancer to get rid of and having to fight that over a tan just is dumb. i hope people take note from this tragedy. besides who wants to look like this?!

reply
Devin P... to synful90 2011/06/24 18:01:33

Apparently she does. :P

reply
synful90 to Devin P... 2011/06/24 19:26:10

yeah the orange racoon look is all the rage these days lol

reply
Tuna 2011/06/24 13:31:13

No, I only natural tan

+1
We found out from that swine flu pandemic (tee-hee) that you MUST have the strands of vitamin D that only come from the Sun's rays; anytime man tries to substitute for Mother Nature's laws, the outcome is not good.

reply
Aingean 2011/06/24 13:20:36

No, I only natural tan

I have never and will never use a tanning bed. If I am going to be out side working and I get a tan then fine, but I am not going to go out of my way to get way to much sun.

reply
Bett17 2011/06/24 13:05:47 (edited)

No, I only natural tan

+1
I'd much prefer to be pasty than a creepy tangoed clown.

*shudders*

reply
Zombiecat~Metalhead4Life 2011/06/24 12:51:10 (edited)

No sun for me, thanks!

I am pasty and proud

reply
Hukaatir 2011/06/24 12:46:35

No, I only natural tan

reply
Freedom4 2011/06/24 12:45:35

No, I only natural tan

+1
It was not the tanning beds that killed her, but her stupidity. Why do we always try blaming inanimate objects for the stupidity of Some. Ronald McDonalds does not make people fat either.

reply
Brandon 2011/06/24 12:35:44

Yes

+2
You can die in your car, overdose on Red Bull, anything is good in proper moderation.

reply
The heartless 2011/06/24 11:48:22 (edited)

No sun for me, thanks!

+2
No thanks. I would rather be pale than fry my skin.

reply
wewehello 2011/06/24 11:29:37

Yes

I prefer to go to the beach.But i was thinking of a tanning bed but now im not that sure >.>

reply
Dan ☮ R P ☮ 2012 ☮ 2011/06/24 11:09:50

Yes

"Ballantyne had been using UV tanning beds twice a week since she was 16."

The problem isnt tanning beds. Its the fact that she is an idiot that over exposed herself to radiation.

reply
Stacie 2011/06/24 10:53:47

No sun for me, thanks!

We have an in-ground pool, but it has plenty of shade and umbrellas around it. When when I am in direct sunlight I wear sunblock, as do my children. :)

reply
Merna 2011/06/24 10:51:12

No, I only natural tan

For my skin tan=hideous rust like color.
I'm not pale, and I think my skin is dark enough to count as "tan" without any artificial additions.

reply
kc2dtp 2011/06/24 10:35:00 (edited)

No sun for me, thanks!

I burn easily. Had second degree burns several time when riding motorcycles with jacket off. Now the dermatologist is having a field day removing all those suspicious little black spots from my skin!

reply
California Jones 2011/06/24 10:16:57

No, I only natural tan

Never was obsessed enough to use a tanning bed.

reply
Razzy Ratchets 2011/06/24 10:05:36

No, I only natural tan

+1
I prefer the no Shake n Bake oompa loompa look for me.

reply
TerroRising~PWCM~JLA 2011/06/24 09:23:57

No, I only natural tan

And I've become more disciplined at using sunscreen. I will use a tanning bed 1 or 2 times a week during the long winter months up here though to help combat the S.A.D., but never for longer than 5 minutes and up to 10 later.

reply
Jen 2011/06/24 09:08:36

No sun for me, thanks!

+2
I find it incredibly amusing that a new story crops up like this every time someone dies of melanoma like the public doesn't already know that tanning kills people. This question has been asked a billion times and this story, as tragic as it is, is not a singular, shocking event. Also, I think the "no, I only natural tan" option, like it isn't just as horrible for you, is hilarious. You know where people got the idea for tanning beds? Tanning in the SUN. What? GASP!

Tanning, in general is bad for you. I repeat tanning=bad for you. You're not safe from developing skin cancer because you're tanning on the beach and not in a bed. It's the same UV rays, just in different levels of potency. That's why I wear sunblock. That's why sunblock was invented. Because while a healthy amount of sun and vitamin D is necessary for the body, tanning "naturally" is still tanning and is still unhealthy.

reply
Zombiec... to Jen 2011/06/24 12:54:38

I'm happy being pale lol

reply