Don't underestimate harmful effects of sun

COVER UP: Dave Donaldson has spent the past 10 years dealing with the damage to his skin from the sun - a legacy of an outdoor life. PHOTO/BEN FRASER 310114BF8

For Dave Donaldson, dealing with skin damage is a "legacy" of years spent in the outdoors.

The Rotorua deputy mayor knows all too well the damage sun can cause after spending the past 10 years dealing with damage including having a squamous cell carcinoma surgically removed and several other pre-cancerous cells taken off.

Mr Donaldson said the first inkling that something was wrong was more than a decade ago when he went to the doctor for an area of dry skin on his hands.

The doctor was able to freeze most of them off but he had to have one surgically removed from his temple.

Since then, being sunsafe and vigilant has been a priority with regular check-ups twice a year.

Mr Donaldson said he'd spent much of his life enjoying the outdoors and skin cancers were "a legacy of that lifestyle".

While he remembers his mother putting sunscreen on him, Mr Donaldson said he only wore a hat under sufferance and rarely wore it at school.

"I always had a peeling nose as a kid," he said. "I wasn't really aware of skin cancer or sun damage until later in life."

But that's all changed. Mr Donaldson said he was now rarely seen without a hat on and being aware of changes in his skin was just a part of his daily routine. He also tries to limit his exposure to the sun in the middle hours of the day.

Mr Donaldson said being sun smart was made easier thanks to some fantastic new products on the market like a sunblock which also had cooling abilities for mountain biking as well as a SPF50 cap which he wears under his helmet to stop sun exposure through the vents in the helmet when riding.