Frequent tanner shares graphic skin-cancer selfie

One woman wanting to raise awareness of the dangers of tanning beds took to social media and posted a grisly photo of her bloody, blistered face after her own skin cancer treatment.

"If anyone needs a little motivation to not lay in the tanning bed and sun here ya go!" reads a Facebook post by Tawny Willoughby. The 27-year-old basically grew up in a tanning bed, using one up to five times a week throughout high school. 

"I had my own personal tanning bed in my home and so did a lot of my friends growing up ... everyone tanned," the Kentucky native told CNN. "I didn't really even think about the future or skin cancer at the time."

At age 21, Willoughby visited a dermatologist and found out that she had skin cancer. Now a registered nurse in Alabama, says she has been diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma five times, and squamous cell carcinoma once. She now has her skin checked every six to 12 months, at which point she usually has some type of skin cancer removed, according to Mashable.

After seeing the dangerous results from tanning bed, Willoughby posted the graphic image of her face after one of her treatments, covered with scabs and blisters. The image has been shared more than 50,000 times.

"Wear sunscreen and get a spray tan. You only get one skin and you should take care of it."