Rothschild’s visit in two weeks will be held at 7 p.m. at the Memorial Union, 50 Lower College Road, Room 318. The talk is free and open to the public.
Founder of SurvivingSkin.org, Rothschild has a Facebook group. Its stated mission is “to inform men and women of all ages about the dangerous effects of sun exposure and indoor tanning bed use.” She is a national spokesperson for the American Academy of Dermatology and has been featured on ABC’s World News Tonight.
The Wilbraham, Mass. resident began visiting tanning booths when she was 17 to hide her pale Irish complexion. Although warned that tanning salons were dangerous, she went anyway, and lied to her mother about the reasons for her red complexion, according to her web site.
“My battle with cancer was one that defined the person I am today, and from my firsthand experience, I know what it’s like to struggle with self-esteem issues and embarrassment over scarring,” she says on her site. “My surgery is one that resulted in over 70 stitches, a large disfigurement on my stomach and scars under both arms where eight lymph nodes needed to be removed to ensure the cancer had not spread inside my body.”
She has been speaking publicly for more than five years about her battle with cancer and the struggles young men and women experience with body image.
Related News Update: Cancer Threat From Tanning Beds May Prompt FDA Changes; National Public Radio, March 26