A YOUNG mother died of skin cancer after using a sun bed twice a day for seven years.

Zita Farrelly, 29, lost her battle for life three days after her daughter's first birthday.

The mum-of-two from Seedley in Salford started using sun beds at the age of 14 and gave them up at 21 - but by then it was too late.

Last August she found a mole and nine months later she was dead after being diagnosed with the skin cancer melanoma.

Doctors told her family they believe it was caused by using sun beds. Today her partner and auntie issued a desperate plea to warn others of the danger of the machines.

Her partner Phil Burtwistle said that sun-beds had 'destroyed the family's life'.

He added: "Zita told me days before she died that she wished she could make a documentary about the dangers of using them. She said if only one person was saved by seeing what had happened to her she'd be happy. People need to know that they can be that dangerous."

He described how one of Zita's final wishes was to see her daughter Phebie with her presents on her first birthday. "She battled on and managed to keep herself awake to see that," said Phil. "But not long after she fell asleep and never woke up again."

Her auntie, Tina Farrelly, appealed for others to learn from her niece's death. She said: "Time after time I see young girls coming out of tanning salons burned and looking like lobsters. I feel like grabbing them and telling them about what can happen. If they could see the pain that Zita had to go through I'm sure it would make them stop using them."

Colourful celebration

Zita's funeral will take place tomorrow with a colourful celebration of the former telephonist's life. The ceremony described as `everything Zita wanted' will be held at St James RC Church.

Tina added: "Nobody is allowed to wear black and we've asked everyone to bring helium filled balloons so we can release them when she's buried. Her coffin is fluorescent pink and she is going to be carried in a carriage by shire horses.

"She was that kind of person. Bright and colourful - she would light up any room."

Phil, who is left to care for Phebie and seven-year-old Caldhan, added: "She picked what she wanted for the funeral and would hate to think of people being upset. She's chosen her favourite songs and it should be a really happy occasion."

Zita's 30th birthday would have been on 18 July. And to celebrate the event a fund-raising party will be held in aid of St Ann's Hospice, who nursed her through her final days.

Tina said: "They were magnificent. We're going to see if we can give them a little something back because they bent over backwards for us. We've set up a Zita trust fund and are asking people who come to the funeral not to bring flowers but to donate to it."