Australians love the sun - our outdoor lifestyle is part our trademark appeal. It's also the reason that every thirty minutes someone is diagnosed with melanoma. Why skin cancer is called Australia's National Cancer, and two out of three Australians are likely to be diagnosed with it before turning 70.
"It's a powerfully honest journey of survival...and you're one hell of a brave woman!" Deborah Hutton. Media personality and skin cancer survivor.
After living an average Aussie life playing sport, spending languid days on the beach, and falling in love with ocean swimming, Anne Gately received unwelcome news. She had Stage IV melanoma.
Yet Anne is one of the lucky ones. After a dire prognosis, she dug deep to face the clear and present prospect of death, head-on. In Sunburnt, her revealing memoir, Anne recounts the emotions and challenges of her life-saving immunotherapy treatment under the care of Professor Georgina Long (2024 Australian of the Year), to come through the other side.
Not only has Anne survived, she is issuing a clarion call for a change to the bronzed Aussie culture. In Sunburnt Anne combines a nostalgic view of a charmed Aussie childhood, a jolting review of Australia's sun-worshipping norms, and enough scientific research to encourage us all to redefine our relationship with the sun.
'Anne's story is more than that of just a cancer patient... it is illuminating a path of change ahead for not only Australia, but the world.' Prof Georgina Long AO. 2024 Australian of the Year
