Melanoma Institute Australia’s Annette St Clair and melanoma survivor Troy Maiden delivered a message to local school students about the importance of being sun safe. Photo: Jarryd Rowley.
Nowhere is melanoma – the skin cancer caused by frequent and unprotected sun exposure – more common than in Australia.
The cancer causes more than 1300 deaths in Australia each year, yet despite the high number, almost every case can be prevented with proper sun protection.
It’s this message that led to Annette St Clair and the team at the Melanoma Institute Australia to open the MIA Aime St Clair Melanoma Clinic in Wagga in 2024.
Following the death of her daughter, for whom the clinic is named, Annette has been committed to assuring Aime’s legacy and preventing others from suffering a similar preventable fate.
Part of her mission includes spreading awareness about melanoma, reminding others about the harm it can cause, which includes holding Sun Safety Programs for local schools.
Aiding Annette in this year’s sun safety program is local melanoma survivor Troy Maiden, who survived his fight following a diagnosis in August 2024.
“When I was diagnosed, I was fit and healthy. I had just run a marathon a month or so before,” he said.
“I went out for a run one Sunday morning, got home, and I’m in the shower, and I felt this lump.
“I wasn’t really overly concerned at the time, but knew I probably had to get it checked out. So a couple of days later, I saw my GP, got sent for an ultrasound, which led to a biopsy, which then led to being told I had melanoma, which was quite frightening and confronting.”
Following a bout of double drug immunotherapy, a relatively new treatment, Troy had surgery on his lymph nodes to remove the tumour. With a successful response to the treatment, Troy was melanoma free.
Despite successful treatment, there was one battle Troy was still left to overcome: getting back into the sun.
“The sun still scares me a bit,” Troy said.
“I’ve definitely learnt my lesson. I’ll always be out in a wide-brimmed hat, and if I ever go out to the footy or something like that, I’ll always seek the shade, even if I’m the only person in it.
“It’s important that we spread these practices to our young people who are obviously most susceptible to the sun and making sure they do slip, slop, slap and whatever else they need to do to stay safe.”
Two Riverina students who heard Troy’s story were Ryan Pisani from St Paul’s College in Walla Walla and Imogen Christmas from Temora High School.
The pair said they learnt a lot from the sun safe workshop and will be looking to be safer when outside.
“One of the things I learnt was that one in 12 men and one in 18 women are likely to get melanoma sometime in their life,” Imogen said.
“It’s also a bit strange that it affects most people between the ages of 20 and 39, when most cancers affect people who are older than that.”
“It’s made me more conscious of being outside and making sure I use sunscreen even if it’s not that hot or sunny,” Ryan said.
“It was really eye-opening for me and my friends; we will definitely be making sure we are going to be safe outside from now on.”
