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Lifeguard With Cancer

Photo: Former lifeguard with skin cancers

"I've had 'em burned off, cut off, x-rayed, you name it," says former Australian lifeguard Don Bennewith of his skin cancers. Each adhesive dot represents a removed lesion. "I lost count at 532," he says. With only minutes of sun exposure, skin cells stained with a fluorescent dye show signs of increasing DNA damage. The cells may repair such damage, but sometimes they fail and become cancerous.

Photograph by Sarah Leen