A woman who was proud of a 'super-cute' heart-shaped freckle on her face was horrified to discover it was skin cancer - and is now urging people to wear sunscreen.
KayIa Mailer, a stage manager and secretary from Portland, Oregon, had a tiny freckle on her left cheek from the age of 12. Over the course of 15 years it transformed into a perfect heart shape.
But the unique beauty mark, which people regularly complimented and thought was a tattoo, turned a darker color and lost its distinctive shape when she turned 27.
Kayla went to her doctor and was referred to a dermatologist who whipped off the freckle for a biopsy.
Just three days later, Kayla, now 32, was given the devastating news that it was a 'highly aggressive' form of melanoma.
KayIa Mailer, now 32, was proud of her 'super-cute' heart-shaped freckle - pictured here before surgery. She noticed it changing color and shape when she was 27, and visited her doctor
When the stage manager and secretary had the mark biopsied, she was told it was an aggressive form of cancer - and had it removed surgically
Kayla, pictured after surgery, said her skin was 'filleted off' layer-by-layer during the surgical procedure
She underwent surgery where they 'filleted' off her skin layer by layer, leaving her with a pepperoni-sized hole in her face.
After tests revealed there was no more cancer present, Kayla underwent plastic surgery on her face to close the gaping wound.
Now cancer-free, Kayla is sharing her ordeal to urge people to always wear sunscreen.
Kayla said: 'If I hadn't removed it, I would have died when I was 28-years-old.
'I didn't tan a lot before the diagnosis, but when I was a kid I was running around Alabama, usually with no sunscreen, or at least not reapplied every two hours.
Kayla says there was a pepperoni-sized hole on her cheek after surgery to treat her skin cancer
Pictured here after surgery, Kayla says she would have died aged 28, after discovering the cancer at 27, if she hadn't undergone the operation
After doctors confirmed the cancer was gone, Kayla had plastic surgery to close the gaping wound in her face, turning the circular hole into a straight line
'When I got the call from the dermatologist saying I had a highly aggressive form of melanoma I was getting ready to go to work a 12-hour night shift at the jail.
'I sobbed in my bathroom and [from then on] had constant anxiety about dying.'
Kayla had had the freckle since the age of 12 and over the years it formed a perfect heart-shape that people complimented her on.
But when she noticed changes to its shape and color she made an appointment with a dermatologist on November 13, 2017 to get it checked out.
Kayla said: 'From at least sixth grade I had a mole on my cheek and right below it was a flat freckle.
'Over time that flat freckle became more and more prominent and by the time I was 26 it had formed into a heart shape and was super cute.
Kayla had surgery on December 4, 2017, to remove the cancer. Two days later (pictured) she headed into surgery again - this time to have a cosmetic op to close the wound
![Pictured here after the plastic surgery procedure, Kayla says she had a 'railroad of stitches in [her] face'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/11/18/11/50651815-10216415-image-a-56_1637234278634.jpg)
Pictured here after the plastic surgery procedure, Kayla says she had a 'railroad of stitches in [her] face'
The cancer survivor says her mother Millie Mailer (pictured here, as the pair travel to a hospital appointment) never left her side throughout the treatment
'The change into a heart was slow, about 15 years of small changes, to become this unique marking.
'However, when I was 27 it had started to rapidly change and was no longer the perfect heart shape.
'It went from being a medium-dark chocolate brown to brown-black and the heart had lost some of its shape.
'I went to my doctor concerned and he sent me a referral to a dermatologist in Yakima [Washington].
'The doctor checked it out and said it 'definitely looked suspicious'.
'He said he would do a scrape test if I wanted but warned that it would remove the entire mark.
'I remember thinking that my heart-shaped freckle was really cute - I got a lot of compliments on it and even people asking me if it was a tattoo.
'I agreed to the scrape in case it turned out to be something more sinister, it changed quickly enough at the end to make me worried.
While she didn't regularly suntan, Kayla (pictured pre-surgery), who grew up in Alabama, says she didn't apply sunscreen enough as a child
The 32-year-old, shown here aged 27, as her freckle started to change shape and color, advises people to get any 'suspicious' health issues checked by a professional
Kayla, pictured here in April 2021, is urging people to always wear sunscreen and reapply every two hours
Now, several years after her 2017 surgeries to remove the cancer and close the wound, Kayla's scar has faded
'He numbed my face and then used a small razor to scrape off the color, which he then sent to the lab.'
