Beauty therapist saves four clients’ lives after spotting cancerous moles

Beauty therapist Erika Hodgkiss is being hailed a hero after spotting cancerous moles on four of her clients.

The owner of Erika’s Skin Clinic in Crockenhill, Kent, spotted the dangerous moles on clients during beauty treatments and advised them to see their GPs. In all four cases, the client was diagnosed with a melanoma and had it surgically removed.

Hodgkiss was able to spot the moles because of her training with Masced – a skin cancer programme developed by charity Skcin for beauty therapists to learn “skin surveillance” techniques that could help them work out when they may need to advise clients to seek medical attention.

“I can’t believe how many people I’ve seen with something unusual on their skin in just a few months. Most of the time they are aware it is there but say, ‘Oh that’s nothing, it’s just a mole’,” Hodgkiss told The Daily Mail.

“I tell them I’ve been on the Skcin course and encourage them to get anything suspicious checked by a doctor. Luckily the women who were diagnosed with melanoma have come out the other side, but it’s scary to think it would have spread if I hadn’t spotted it.” professionalbeauty.co.uk