Katie Donnar, 18 year old pageant girl from Indiana, had been using tanning beds since she was in sixth grade. While preparing for the Miss Indiana pageant, she found a growth on her leg. This turned out to be an early-stage from of melanoma-the worst form of skin cancer. “It seemed somewhat of a myth that I was putting myself at risk,” says Donnar, of Bruceville, Ind., who found the melanoma before it spread.
For Katie, the warnings from doctors, studies, and even the labels on the tanning bed weren't enough to cause her to stop and think about what she was really doing to herself. An analysis of multiple studies on skin cancer has shown that tanning can increase melanoma by 75 percent for people who tan frequently while they are in their teenage years and in their 20s. Unfortunately, Katie Donnar is a testimony to this growing trend. Donnar, now referred to by her friends as "snow princess", has enough confidence and knowledge to feel comfortable being herself in her own skin.
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