Craig Robertson is thankful his melanoma diagnosis was made sooner than it might have been thanks to a proactive recommendation from his Just Cuts hair stylist, and it’s his hope others might avoid what he’s going through as a result.
Craig grew up on Auckland’s north shore but now lives with his wife (a born and bred Cantabrian) in Lincoln, just outside of Christchurch. He says he’d always been a Crusaders fan, and he loves the South Island region he’s called home for over a decade now.
Craig believes it’s quite possible he wouldn’t be here to share his story if his stylist hadn’t spoken up at a routine visit back in August 2022.
I went to get what I thought was going to be a routine haircut at Just Cuts in Hornby. I had a mole, or what I thought was a boil or something on the top of my head. Thankfully, the stylist there at the time saw it and it didn’t sit well with her. She said, ‘I’ll go and get my manager,’” Craig explains.
“He was the owner of that particular Just Cuts, and he said, ‘Look, if I were you, I’d go straight to the doctor and get that looked at.’”
Craig took the advice and saw his GP who referred him to a skin specialist. He’d been aware of the spot, which he recalls had been there for two or three months, but he’d not thought too much of it until then.
The lesion was removed in two stages, and Craig received the news that it was melanoma.
I got referred to an oncologist and I’ve been with him ever since. From the top of my head, it spread to my lymph nodes in my neck, so I had a couple of surgeries over Christmas ’22 and January ’23.”
Craig started a 12-month course of immunotherapy involving three-weekly treatment and CT scans every three months.”
In January last year Craig and his wife Hayley were hoping for a clear scan result, but the devastating news came that the cancer had spread to his lungs, and since then to his liver and kidneys. He underwent more surgeries, scans and radiation throughout 2024.
Craig and Hayley were prompted to take every opportunity to do the things they enjoy most in life, including travel, and they’ve been on international trips to the UK and Bali since the melanoma diagnosis.
Craig works as a public servant; he loves his role and leads a team of over a dozen people. “I’m a positive sort of guy, and I think that’s quite important. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly have my days, but in the main, I keep a positive mindset and do things that make me happy… so I play a lot of golf, walking, just spending time with my family and friends, even work. It keeps that sense of purpose.”
Growing up, Craig remembers spending every weekend at the beach and using sunscreen, but there were times when his skin got sunburnt. “It was in the late ’80s and ’90s and some of it probably wasn’t the best stuff back then, but it’s what you had. So I did get burnt and it’s come back to bite now.”
“We’ve got a lot better sunscreen these days… but you’ve got to put it on first. Unfortunately, it’s kind of trendy and cool to get burnt and then let it tan up, but it’s certainly not the way to go about things.
Now I don’t go outside without putting on sunscreen and sun protection. My message would be to wear the sunscreen, wear a hat, put that layer of protection on and at least give yourself a chance.”
Craig appreciates the care and support he receives from healthcare and other service providers and gives kudos to those working to raise awareness about prevention and early detection of melanoma. He hopes that sharing his story might change the course for others.
Just Cuts has since joined Melanoma New Zealand’s family of corporate supporters and Just Cuts salons across New Zealand proudly showcase the partnership to their clients and beyond. Last year, the Hornby branch, where Craig was first alerted, hosted a Melanoma New Zealand free spot check event for the public where 68 people were seen, and 13 suspicious lesions were found, including 4 suspected melanomas.
All Just Cuts stylists also receive information from Melanoma New Zealand and Just Cuts on what to look for and what to do next if they find something of concern on a client. Craig says he’d really like for all hair stylists in New Zealand to be provided the skills and knowledge to do what his Just Cuts team did.
If that stylist and the manager hadn’t said, ‘Go to the doctor’, I probably wouldn’t have. I don’t know if I’d be sitting here chatting to you now if I hadn’t got it removed because it would have probably really raced ahead.”
