Woman’s Dying Wish Is To Tell Everyone About The Popular Hobby That Gave Her A Deadly Disease

A woman’s last wish was to warn others about the common habit that lead to her becoming deathly ill.

Ashley Trenner became terminally ill. She was diagnosed metastatic melanoma and wanted to user her last days to warn others not to make the same mistake that she did for so long.

Ashley spent a lot of her time tanning. She started visiting tanning beds at a young age and loved the way it made her look, especially living in Washington state. However, the habit eventually took a toll on her. According to Newsiosity, at the age of 33, she was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma.

“I used to say that ‘I don’t care if I die from tanning, as long as I die tan.’ I used to say that,” she said. 

“I don’t think that way anymore.”

Following her diagnosis, Ashley was in and out of treatment for years. She had a tumor and lymph nodes removed and was cancer-free for about three years, before it returned. In November 2009, she noticed a lump on her hip and was told that her melanoma had come back, according to LittleThings. From that point on, she needed to make sure her message was spread.

At age 40, Ashley gave an interview from her hospital bed, with half of her face paralyzed due to the melanoma.

“I paid money to be in the position I’m in now,” she said. “I literally paid to get this terrible disease that is killing me.”

Ashley revealed on her deathbed that her final wish was for her story to save at least one person’s life.

“If there’s one person’s life I can affect, that’s a beautiful gift I can give to somebody,” she said. 

Ashley passed away on March 15, 2013, following a seven-year-long battle with cancer.

Following her death, both Oregon and Washington passed new laws, placing stricter regulations on the use of tanning beds. 

According to USA Today, tanning beds are connected to more than 400,000 cases of skin cancer every year. More than 35% of adults in America say they have used tanning beds, as well as 59% of college students and 17% of teens. Rates of skin cancer have been rising for years and don’t appear to show any signs of slowing down. People who use a tanning bed before the age of 35 increase the risk of melanoma by about 75%, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Sources: Newsiosity, LittleThings, USA Today / Photo Credit: Evil Erin/Flickr