Sunburnt in Port Talbot
Kelly Thompson, a ten year old girl from Port Talbot, suffered 70% burns on her body after using an unmanned sun bed for a full sixteen minutes.
Kelly had to stay overnight at a Swansea hospital, where she was treated for the burns. The doctors at the unit told her mother that if Kelly had stayed on the bed two minutes longer, the ten year old would have needed skin grafts. Kelly’s mother, Sharon Hannaford, is furious that her ten year old daughter was ever even allowed to set foot in the tanning salon.
Ms Hannaford said, ‘She was under-age but there were no staff there to stop her from using it.’
Ms Hannaford had originally given Kelly the money to spend at a fair that she was going to with her older cousin. However, when the girls found out the fair was closed, Kelly and her cousin decided to use the tanning centre in town. Kelly inserted £8 into the machine, which gave her 16 minutes under the sun bed. Kelly then suffered burns and was absent from school for a week.
Ms Hannaford says, ‘There was no-one to give advice on using these potentially dangerous machines.’
The Electrik Avenue tanning salon has a large sign in the shop widow, stating that no-one under sixteen years of age can use the tanning beds.
Nina Goad of the British Association of Dermatologists said, ‘Unmanned, coin-operated sun beds need to be banned, as children of any age can use them. They are highly dangerous.’
Neath Port Talbot council confirmed that they are investigating the incident.
