Chelsea Tantum

Chelsea Tantum was a young woman from Hyde, in Tameside, Greater Manchester, who spent the last part of her life warning others about the dangers of sunbeds after being diagnosed with advanced melanoma. She died on 30 September 2026, aged 30, and her story was carried by national newspapers in the days that followed.

She grew up in the Manchester area and, by her own account, began using sunbeds at the age of 15. When she started, the legal age limit was 16, and she said her friends and the girls in the year above at school were already using them. It became, in her words, a cultural thing that everyone did, with friends competing to see who had the best tan. Although she was under 18, she said she was never asked for identification. She used sunbeds frequently for around ten years.

At the end of 2024, aged 28, she was diagnosed with melanoma after a fast growing mole on her leg swelled into a bleeding growth. She later said she had not understood the illness and thought it was simply a mole that would be removed. Scans showed the cancer had spread widely, including to her spine, ribs, pelvis, femurs, lungs, liver, spleen and breast. She underwent surgery, a skin graft, radiotherapy and immunotherapy, and at first the treatment worked well. At her lowest point she was in a wheelchair and receiving palliative care, but she recovered enough to go out again and to campaign.

Chelsea chose to share her experience publicly to warn young people. She called for mandatory ID checks for everyone using sunbeds and urged people to take sun protection seriously. She also raised more than 4,000 pounds for the charity Melanoma Focus.

Shortly before her 30th birthday in February 2026 she learned that the cancer had spread to her brain. She continued to fight the disease for several months and died on 30 September 2026. Her relative Lee Craven said she never gave up fighting, right until the very end, and had used her experience to raise awareness. Her friend Claire Louise described her as strong, beautiful, funny, determined and completely unforgettable. Her funeral was arranged for 23 October 2026 at Albion Church in Ashton, followed by committal at Dukinfield Crematorium, with donations invited for The Christie.