A mother has revealed how her five-year-old daughter ‘saved her life’ after she noticed an unusual freckle on her shoulder.
Jodie Harper, from Melbourne’s Croydon Victoria, was getting ready one morning when little Olivia pointed out that the spot looked different on her back.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, the 40-year-old said a conscious decision to get a skin check quickly found the freckle had turned into a deadly melanoma.
Here, the mother explained how her quick-thinking daughter prevented the skin cancer from spreading after the blemish was treated early.
Mother Jodie Harper has revealed how her five-year-old daughter Olivia ‘saved her life’ after she noticed an unusual freckle on her shoulder (pictured together)
The little girl pointed out the spot on her mother’s back looked different. The freckle turned out to be a deadly melanoma
‘I was putting my make up on in front of the mirror in a towel when Liv came in to the bathroom and flippantly mentioned the changed freckle on my shoulder,’ Ms Harper said.
‘I didn’t think much of it. Olivia said the freckle was “white” and it wasn’t before. My first thought was “oh well, that’s okay. White is fine”. But I was very wrong.’
Unfazed by the blemish, the 40-year-old mother decided to get her skin checked.
‘I knew I had to take it seriously and get it checked because she noticed it. But if I had of seen it myself – I’m not sure I would have acted so quickly,’ she said.
‘But I wanted to set a good example for my twin daughters Olivia and Leni.’
She decided to get a skin check to set a good example for her twin daughters Olivia and Leni
When she met with a doctor, she was told there was nothing to worry about.
‘My GP told me not to worry too much. There was only a five per cent chance of it being anything sinister,’ she recalled.
‘The plastic surgeon said similar things – there was only a one per cent chance.’
The surgeon removed the spot and told her he will not speak to her again until her post-surgery appointment a week later.
But just two days following the operation, she was diagnosed with stage 1 melanoma.
‘The surgeon called me and said: I’m sorry but you are the one per cent,’ she said.
‘I was in full scale panic. More worried about what to say to the kids.
‘But categorically, it would have been a very different, more frightening story if it was undetected.’
Quick-thicker: Olivia saved her mother’s life after she noticed a strange spot on her shoulder
By sharing her story, the mother wanted to encourage families to get a regular skin check
Reflecting back at her shock diagnosis, Ms Harper said she still feels stunned that her daughter actually saved her life.
‘I feel relieved of course,’ she said.
‘A little shocked that a five-year-old is aware enough – to understand that a change in a freckle is a bad thing,’ she said.
‘My amazing dermatologist Rosemary Nixon was so impressed with Olivia’s observations.
‘I’m very thankful to our childcare centre – who enforced sun safety so well. If they didn’t take it so seriously, there’s a good chance I wouldn’t be here.’
By sharing her story, the mother wanted to encourage other Australian families to get a regular skin check.
‘In 99 per cent of cases – people usually say “hmmm… I’ve got [spot] I want to get checked too”,’ she said.
‘There is no sense of urgency though until I tell them my whole story.’