I ended up in A&E after forgetting to apply sun cream during cloudy weather – I looked like I’d been in a house fire
NEONATAL nurse Charlotte Oliver suffered severe second and third-degree sunburn halfway through her holiday to Tenerife with her family last month.
Despite applying factor 50 sunscreen, she was left needing hospital treatment.
Her doctor even described it as the “worst sunburn he had ever seen”.
Charlotte, who lives in Glasgow with her fiancé Craig Fraser, 34, a joiner, and her two children, 12, and nine, says: “While I do always use suncream, I’ve been burnt in the past from not putting on enough, or not wearing a high enough factor.
“This was the first year I’d packed factor 50.
“But on the first day it was cloudy, so I forgot about putting suncream on.”
Charlotte, 32, ended up slightly burning her back and shoulders, which started to blister.
She says: “I made sure that I was more careful after that, and applied factor 50 before going out and when I remembered throughout the day.”
However, halfway through the holiday, after a trip to the waterpark, Charlotte experienced “agonising” red-raw burns to her back and chest.
She says: “My partner took a picture of my back to show me and I gasped – it looked like I’d been in a house fire.
“I felt I was being sensible by applying a high factor, but didn’t take into account that it didn’t mean I was protected for longer.
“I got distracted making sure the kids were careful in the sun, and didn’t apply it again to myself enough times throughout the day.
“I always paid attention to the SPF rating, but I didn’t think about the UV rating.
“At certain times in Tenerife the UV rating was 11 – which is really extreme, and meant I needed more protection than I realised.”
The result of this oversight was horrifying.
Charlotte says: “My skin was raw, I had what looked like open wounds, I felt shivery and sick, couldn’t sleep and was in agony.
“I felt so ill, the rest of the holiday was ruined.”
After returning from holiday, Charlotte went to A&E, and had to have her burns treated with medicated dressings and gauze.
She was prescribed strong painkillers and antibiotics to fight infection, and was off work for a week.
She says: “I’ve been warned I could be permanently scarred, and my risk of skin cancer has increased.
“I feel really anxious about burning again, and have realised I need to be a lot more careful and aware.
“Just applying suncream isn’t enough, especially if it’s not applied regularly.”