When Sharon Hudson, clinical nurse consultant and CEO of Your Skin Scan, decided to extend her mobile skin check service to Mildura from her Melbourne base, she also considered reaching out to other communities. “I googled Mildura, and it was the strangest thing, my screen scrolled up to Broken Hill. I sat there and thought about it. ‘Would it even be worthwhile, how many people even live in Broken Hill’, so I did a Facebook post,” Ms Hudson told the Truth.
Her initiative quickly paid off. Within 24 hours, the National Revolution Group (NRG) contacted her, and following an interview with ABC, what was intended to be a one-day clinic expanded into a fully booked three-day event. “I was fully booked. I found melanoma and the two other most common skin cancers,” she recounted.
Ms Hudson’s subsequent visits in October and December further underscored the demand. “I went back in October, and it was another three days, then when I went back in December on the Friday before Christmas, I brought a colleague with me, and we did three full days each (the equivalent of six days work).”
It was during the pre-Christmas visit in 2022 that Your Skin Scan detected Milton Hawke’s melanoma. Since this discovery, Your Skin Scan has committed to visiting Broken Hill every three months. They are already fully booked for their November visit, but bookings for February are now open.
Mr. Hawke credits Ms Hudson with saving his life. “I met her on a Menindee Lake tour with us, and she told me she wanted me to see her on her next visit, which was in November. And so, I booked in and she found a bloody lesion on my head. I didn’t even feel it,” Mr. Hawke told the Truth. “She immediately got me in to see someone in Mildura, because no one up here could see me, and they got rid of it – now I get a skin scan every three months. She 100% saved my life.”
Ms Hudson expressed her commitment to the community. “We care about the community there in Broken Hill, and we find melanoma every time we go up there. We have a fantastic referral service down in Mildura,” she said. “Being able to find something sinister and put it in a jar before I head home, knowing people are getting the best care – it’s just worth more than anything.”
Head to this link to book your February appointment: https://www.yourskinscan.com.au/s/appointments
