"Tanned To Death"

Back in Foxtrott, Louisiana about twenty years ago, there was a story of a young lady killing her self by over tanning. I'll call her Betty Shayman, had just graduated high school and she was getting ready for her prom. Betty her prom to  be  extra special.  Bill and Lisa her parent wanted for her prom to be special too.  So, they told her to do what ever she had to do, to make this prom special for her. Betty graduated with a 4.0 average and her parent were quite proud of her. Betty and her friends made hair dressing appointments, manicure, and pedicure appointments for the day of the prom because they wanted everything to be perfect. They made an appointment for the tanning salon for the day before the prom and Bett was so excited becasue she had never had a tan before.  This was going to be a new experience for Betty it was her first time tanning. Her other friends had at least one tan before.   Betty so happy about graduating from high school and she thought nothing could go wrong, she was walking on air.  Betty about getting a tan so that her skin could be much darker, and maybe even hide some of her freckles that she was to keen on.  Betty and her friends went to the mall bought up a lot of things for the prom, like make up, hair ornaments etc.

The day before the prom, her parent geve betty money for tanning appointment, she was so happy,that she told her mom when she came back she would be a new person after her tan, she really had no idea how true that statement  would be.. Betty and her friends met at the Dairy Queen and left for the tanning salon for their appointment. Betty and her four friends sit waiting for their turn on the tanning bed. The lady called them one by one and put on the bed under the tanning lamp. The lamp was set on a timer and after the alotted time, the girls  were taken off the tanning lamp. After every one got finished with their time,they were happy with their outcome, all except for Betty, she thought that she should have been left on the lamp a little longer, But the assistant told her it was dangerous to over tan. Betty reluctanly listen to the assistant and discarded her words. Betty and the girls got ready to leave, but Betty made of an excuse and ditch her friends, they went home but Betty wanted to find an other tanning salon, so she could more time on the tanning lamp, to cover up m ore of her freckles. Betty found another tanning bed and paid for the same amount of time as she used at the other tanning salon. She had no idea that she was killing her self.

After Betty had been under the tanning lamp for a while, she started hurting and feeling bad, she finally got the tanning bed, dressed and left for home. Betty was sure she would m ake it home, but she did.  She told Mrs. Shaymanthat she was hurting and she felt really sick, Her mom asked if she ate something that did'nt agree with her,she said no. Her mother was concerned, so Betty finally told her mom that she think she over did it on the tan ning lamp. Mrs. Shayman. got very concerned about betty, maybe getting poison from being under the lamp to long, so Mrs. shayman called her husband to with them to the hospital. They called the family doctor and let him know what had happen and that they was on their way there. Betty continued hurting and throwing up now and then.Betty had no idea how dire her situation was at the time. The doctor was waiting when Betty and the Shayman's arrived. betty was taken in right away and was gone for about forty-five minutes, while the Shayman' was pacing the floor when the doctor finally came back with a look of horror on his face.They Shayman's was afraid to ask what the problem was, because of the doctor expression. Doctor Thomas told the Shaman's that he had bad new for them, They clung to each other as the doctor told the m that their daughter was dying because she had over cooked all of her organs on the ta nning lamp and there's nothing that can be done but ot make her comfortable until she passed. The Shaman's cried so hard, their only daughter had killed her self, but n ot intentionally, it was such a sad case. The Shaman; went to Betty to be at her side, the doctor had told her about her condition.  Betty had been crying and she told her parent how stupid she had been to re-tan her self. She told them she just wanted to look pretty for her prom and now she wouldn't be able to go to the prom.  They Doctor Told them that Betty, would last about five more days.  Betty told her parent that since she was going to die, she still wanted to go to the prom, since it was the reason she was dying , she wanted to at least take part in her prom. So the Shaman's help her the next day ,getting her ready. Mrs. Shayman did her finger nails and tor nails, just as Betty had planned, Betty didn't anyone to know until it was over. Then her parent could tell her story.

Betty, realized to late to be thankful for who you are, and accept that God made you the way he wanted  you to be. She now knows to  love yourself for who you; and never try to change your outward appearance to please someone else. It' so sad that her lesson was learned to late, to save her from dying.  This a true story, some of the situation and the names has been changed.

Benny Faye Douglass