A mother is urging people to cover up in the sun after she was diagnosed with skin cancer and went through months of hell.

Last February, Michelle Whittaker's life was turned upside down after doctors discovered a small mole was malignant.

It was thanks to her friend Jennifer Brown, of Jay Close, Bicester, that Mrs Whittaker went to see her GP. The 29-year-old driving instructor, of Partridge Chase, Bicester, had not noticed that the mole on her left arm had changed colour and had become itchy.

But after much nagging from her friend she went to her GP, who removed the mole and sent it for tests. A few days later she was called back to the surgery and told she had skin cancer.

Mrs Whittaker said: "I cried. I was really shocked and could not take it on board. I had never known anyone with cancer. It's something that doesn't happen to you or anyone you know.

"People were immediately supportive of me and I think they felt worse than I did -- I never felt ill."

She was sent to the Radcliffe Infirmary, in Oxford, for more tests and was told she would need a small operation to remove tissue from the affected area.

But days before surgery she discovered a lump between her collar bone and neck, which was confirmed to be cancerous.

Worse was to come after the operation.

Mrs Whittaker, who has two children, Luke, seven, and Emily, five, suffered a stroke, which caused her to lose her speech and some function in her right hand. She has since made a 99 per cent recovery and has been given the all-clear for cancer -- although she has quarterly checks. But she is concerned that people are not aware of the dangers of the sun and the damage it can cause.

She said: "I could have so easily not listened to my friend and just ignored it, but it would have been spreading through my body without me knowing. I'm doing this now because it is coming up to the summer and I would not want anyone to go though what I went through."

The co-ordinator of Cancer Research UK's SunSmart Campaign, Sara Hiom, said: "We would urge everyone to follow our SunSmart code to help minimise their risk of skin cancer."