After Years Of Tanning, Her Dying Wish Is To Save Others
March 15, 2016

The Dangers Of Tanning
The Bible warns that we should not conform to this world, and for good reason. Vanity is something the world regularly pushes. But trying to achieve the worldly view of beauty can quickly lead down a dangerous path. For one woman, it was extremely costly. For another, it was deadly. And both women have shared their stories in the hopes to save others from this all too common danger. [rsnippet id="3" name="Article-Ad"]


"I didn’t listen when I was warned about the dangers of tanning beds and not using sunscreen," she wrote on a friend’s blog in May 2011.Ashley's faith helped her face her looming death with grace and with purpose. She recognized that God was using the terrible disease to mend relationships in her life, as well as to help her to make a difference in the lives of other young women who struggled with the same insecurities that had driven her into her tanning addiction. RELATED: Crash victim warns others of the common mistake that changed her life forever In her final days, Ashley allowed a local news station to interview her from her hospital bed about the dangerous decisions that had put her there. Despite the havoc the cancer had wreaked on her body -- the left side of her face paralyzed from the tumors -- Ashley was beautifully courageous as she faced the cameras and explained,
"I paid money to be in the position I’m in now. I literally paid to get this terrible disease that is killing me."You can watch King 5's news story on Ashley in the video below: She was able to get some peace from the knowledge that her suffering had helped save others. After her story aired, she and her family were flooded with cards from people all over promising to stop tanning thanks to Ashley's frank and candid interview. Not long afterwards, Ashley passed away peacefully, having accomplished her final wish.
"If there’s one person’s life I can affect, that’s a beautiful gift I can give to somebody. I don’t want them to end up like me, it’s just not worth it."[/slide] Now, Judy Cloud is picking up where Ashley left off.

"Tanning made you pretty. The pretty girls were the ones who were tanning. And I could never get a tan I had lighter skin. And looking back on it, it's like that was really stupid," Judy says.In an effort to get the best tan possible, Judy shrugged off sunscreen and spent plenty of time in the sun or in the tanning bed. By 28, she was diagnosed with skin cancer. She's been battling the disease privately for 20 years, but recently took to Facebook to share the startling truth about just how much that "perfect tan" can cost you.
"Because I see too many girls who are tanned year round and I know what they're doing to their skin," she says.In Judy's Facebook album titled "Skin Cancer," she shares the very real and very graphic results of her most recent surgery, where she had 23 places removed from head to toe. She explains how skin cancer can impact anyone, even those who already have naturally dark skin. She shares how this procedure alone cost her over $26,000, as well as how much numbness there is around her mouth and face -- a numbness the doctor says could last for several months.

- Avoid tanning beds and sun lamps
- Cover up
- Always use sunscreen and don't forget to reapply
- Limit your sun exposure, especially between the times of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when UV rays are strongest
"Let your beauty be not just the outward adorning of braiding the hair, and of wearing jewels of gold, or of putting on fine clothing; but in the hidden person of the heart, in the incorruptible adornment of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God very precious." 1 Peter 3:3-4Ready for some more inspiration? Then hear why the woman dubbed "the ugliest woman alive" is thanking the bullies who gave her that name! (Seriously, she is incredible!)

Today's Devotional
A Prayer for Freedom from the Chains of Addiction - Your Daily Prayer - March 16
The God of all miracles desires, just as we do, that the people we care for find and experience freedom while here in the land of the living.
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