As a white skinned kid growing up in New Mexico, I had more than a few cases of severe sunburn. Because of that I did learn to use sunscreen or wear T-shirts in the swimming pool.

However at the age of 15, I did end up with a 2 inch melanoma on my back. In the 80s, the five-year death rate for post melanoma diagnosis was over 50%. But I’m still here.

At the time, I was on my high school track and field team but I refused to quit or avoid the afternoon sun during practice. In fact, what happened is that I would get a nice tan over the season. So I probably got way more vitamin D than your typical person as I was always wearing short sleeve shirts and shorts in the less intense, late afternoon sunshine. I continued doing so all the way through college and my melanoma never returned.

30 years later, I learned that vitamin D is one of the things your body needs to fight off cancer. I’m pretty sure that ironically the sun saved my life.