Melanoma March Albury message: Kate O'Neill's bid to remove sunburn from daughter's future

Being open about her experience with skin cancer is important to Ms O'Neill, so that she might change attitudes.

"'It's just skin cancer' used to be my thinking too - you get it cut out and you're fine, but that's not true," she said.

"In the next 24 hours, five families are going to lose a loved one.

"We have to change the perception that 'It's just skin cancer' or 'It's too annoying to put sunscreen on'.

"We have to talk about it, because Australia is the skin cancer capital of the world."

Six months after the birth of her first child, Ms O'Neill learned a spot on her arm was malicious.

"I was at the farm one day and this freckle was ridiculously itchy, and I had read somewhere if your freckle is itchy, it's skin cancer," she said.

"I made an appointment at the doctor and by the time it rolled around it wasn't itchy any more, but I went in and saw him.

"It wasn't showing any traditional markers that you would be concerned about, but he said 'I know you, why don't we just take it out'."

Ms O'Neill was so unconcerned that she told Dr Ferencz Baranyay not to bother ringing back about results.

"It wasn't quite two weeks later and it was a Tuesday afternoon, I was sitting home with Scarlett and got this call from the doctor's nurse," she said.

"She told me Ferencz wanted me to come in the next day and said 'Do you want to know what the test result is?' She told me it was a malignant melanoma."

Ms O'Neill had surgery at the Peter McCallum Centre later that month in January, 2018.

"I was ridiculously lucky, this thing was barely stage one, and it had spread like oil on water, so instead of going in it had spread along the surface," she said.

"Because it was melanoma you need to get a centimetre margin all the way around to ensure there weren't any nasties lurking in there."

Ms O'Neill has since had a mole-mapping down across her entire body and gets quarterly check-ups, which led to another spot being removed only weeks ago.

"One on my leg looked a bit weird to me, it was a little bit darker compared to other ones, and the doctor pointed it out as well," she said.

"He thinks it will be fine, but he said if results come back as melanoma, we'll figure out what the next steps are."

The 32-year-old, who grew up in Sandy Creek, has prompted six people in her immediate friendship circle to get checks for spots that turned out to be suspicious.

"I thought it was coming for me, just because of my skin and how careless I was when I was young, but in 20 years' time," she said.

"But I'm not special. You can talk to anyone who has a story.

"So I will go and get my checks, even if it's hard to fit in with the doctor or it's a pain to go to Melbourne."

As hard as processing that call in 2018 was, Ms O'Neill is optimistic about managing her skin in the future and is doing all she can to protect her baby girl.

"Scarlett saw my leg and asked me about it, and I said 'Dr Baranyay had to cut a yucky out from the sun, it will get better', and Scarlett was like, 'Oh, that naughty sun'," she said.

"She knows we don't go outside without a hat on, and we wear our sunscreen and the sun can be nasty.

"Parents really need to make sure they're being consistent.

"Looking at it from the studies I've read, if Scarlett doesn't get sunburnt before she turns 20, the odds of her getting skin cancer go through the floor.

"That's my goal."

Ms O'Neill would have been taking place in the second Albury Melanoma March on Sunday at Padman Park, but the Melanoma Institute has cancelled all events.

Instead a virtual march will happen on March 29 for the event's 10^th year.

Ms O'Neill organised this year's march, taking over from Laraine and John Ambrose, and she hopes to raise close to the $10,000 goal through raffle sales.

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"Over 100 people came and it was amazing how many people were there ... but there were people who had lost someone to it," she said.

"It's in my best interest to do what I can to help people find a cure because I need them working hard on this - melanoma is in my future."