Recently retired primary school teacher, Margo Hebbard’s melanoma journey began when she was diagnosed with melanoma at the age of 27.

At the time, Margo was a young working mum when she noticed a tiny mole on her upper arm starting to change in appearance and was referred to the Sydney Melanoma Unit (the precursor of today’s Melanoma Institute Australia) run by Professor Gerry Milton who confirmed that the little spot was a melanoma – the world’s deadliest form of skin cancer.

Being so young and not knowing anyone else with skin cancer, Margo was taken aback by her diagnosis as like many others at the time, she assumed melanoma only affected the older generations.

After undergoing surgery, Margo was left with a large ‘shark bite’ scar that to this day serves as a constant reminder of the dangers of the sun. With her fair complexion, Margo is acutely aware of her ongoing risk of developing additional melanomas and has since had many subsequent moles removed; the most recent in 2023 which was also diagnosed as a melanoma – her second since her initial diagnosis in 1978.

As a life-long educator, Margo is passionate about supporting young people to reach their potential, and for the past 35 years has been involved with Girls Guides and Scouts NSW. During this time, she also managed the family’s outdoor hobby business, Wings n Things for more than two decades.

Margo currently volunteers her time and expertise to manage PR and membership enquiries for the Northern Sydney region and regularly assists the Scouts NSW marketing team to promote their annual performance spectacular, The Cumberland Gang Show, which is run across the state.

In 2008, Margo’s outstanding services to the community through Girl Guides was publicly recognised with her being awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).

More than 50 years since her first diagnosis, Margo remains vigilant about sun safety and is particularly keen to raise awareness and promote prevention of melanoma within her community and personal and professional networks.

Margo’s long and successful teaching career coupled with her extensive community experience ensures her presentations are engaging and relatable to audiences of all ages.

Margo is also currently an active speaker on the Probus South Pacific speaking circuit with her husband, Chris (also an MIA volunteer) recounting his father’s compelling story of photographing his time as a WW II POW survivor.