One morning in 2015, Daniel Morelli was running late to work.
It meant that he caught a glimpse of a segment on the Today show in which a skin cancer survivor urged viewers to get their skin checked.
When he got into work Morelli decided to book himself in for a skin check.
And he has thanked his lucky stars ever since, as that little segment saved his life.
“I was actually running late to work and I got in to watch a little bit of the Today Show and I saw that segment and it gave me a little bit of a laugh,” Mr Morelli told Today.
“I thought I’d get into work and I’d book in a skin check as soon as I can. I got into the dermatologist, got it all checked out and had stage three melanoma.”
Luckily, Morelli managed to catch the cancer before it spread into his bloodstream and major organs.
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“The thing with melanoma is that it can start as small as anything like a little mole and can go straight to your lymph nodes,” he said.
“I was diagnosed with stage three which means it goes to your lymph nodes, it then can go to stage four where it spreads through into your bloodstream and some of your vital organs.”
Morelli said the whole experience has taught him, and the people around him, that something like a tiny mole can lead to a much more serious diagnosis.
Morelli is now urging other Australians to be sun safe and to get their skin checked regularly.
“The main thing is to look for is moles and anything that changes colour or is asymmetrical in shape,” he explained on air.
“You can’t rely on the old age tale that it will be red and itchy because mine was nothing like that. It was something that wasn’t even noticeable until the doctor had a look.”
