The Legend of the Sunburn

The girls and I lathered up with sunscreen before walking around Legends today in Kansas City. I needed an inhaler or something to control my anxiety with the sunburn after sunburn after sunburn we saw, old and young.

The UV Index for today and tomorrow is 9 folks! NINE! Even just knowing that the temps are going to reach 80 should be enough knowledge to know the risks. Here is what the Environmental Protection Agency recommends (the EPA, you know, the ones that worry about oil spills and the ozone layer and smog? They're worried about your skin too).

VERY HIGH 8-10 Protection against sun damage is needed. If you need to be outside during midday hours between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., take steps to reduce sun exposure. A shirt, hat and sunscreen are a must, and be sure you seek shade. Beachgoers should know that white sand and other bright surfaces reflect UV and can double UV exposure. (aka reflection off the cement).

It was sickening. I kept reminding myself that for the adults anyway, they have all already experienced the majority of their lifetime damaging sun exposure before they turned 18. There is no doubt there will be some sick people tomorrow, trying to fight off the pain and discomfort that a sunburn causes. Since 1 in 5 Americans will deal with some form of skin cancer in their lifetime. Considering that Legends at Village West touts an attendance of 12 million annually, the math breaks down like this...

12,000,000 yearly divided by 365 days a year = 32,877 estimated in attendance today. I can't guarantee how many people were there throughout the day, but the place was very busy.

32,877 daily divided by 5 (one in five will have skin cancer) = 6,575 people will be diagnosed with some form of skin cancer

Of those 6,575 skin cancer patients who are loved, cared about and needed, an estimated 557 of them will have the deadliest form, melanoma.

A person's risk for skin cancer doubles if they have had 5 or more sunburns. One blistering sunburn in childhood more than doubles a person's chances of developing melanoma later in life.

Resource: http://www.skincancer.org/

Maybe reading this will make you think twice before walking around an outdoor event with your spouse and/or children without sunscreen on. My husband is dead, so I didn't get to walk around and hold hands with him.